Thoughts
by Kavbj
Summary: There's obviously a difference between sanity and insanity. But what if the sane one turns insane? Or the unbreakable one suddenly breaks? Maybe the sane ones are never that sane. Maybe it's the insane ones who were always sane. Kai central.
1. Prologue

**_Thoughts_**

_Thoughts of a guardian_

_Thoughts of a thief_

_Thoughts of an angel_

_Thoughts of the devil_

_Thoughts of a man_

_Thoughts of a child_

_Thoughts of the weak_

_Thoughts of the strong_

_Thoughts of the wounded_

_Thoughts of those of health_

_Thoughts from those pure of heart_

_Thoughts of the corrupted_

_Thoughts of the living_

_Thoughts of the dead_

_Thoughts of a leader_

_Thoughts of a follower_

_Thoughts of a phoenix_

_Thoughts of a HIwatari_

_Kai, Hiwatari._

He looked over the edge, stared at the waves crashing below him. His scarf whipped in the wind and as he spread his arms out, he closed his eyes and breathed deeply. How he longed to be free sometimes. People said when you jumped it felt like you were flying until you hit the ground. There were so many times when he had thought of that option when it came to escaping, that and many more but he had constantly punished himself for even considering those options. He wasn't weak. He had told himself that so many times and look where he was now. Still, there was always that voice that would speak up. _'Who are you trying to convince? You? Not weak? Ha!'_ after hearing it so many times he had learnt to ignore but there were always times where it was so strong, daring him, pushing him, urging him to take the plunge. _Take the plunge._ Oh how he would love to…

**Their voices rang through the silence, calling his name.**

His eyes snapped open, revealing crimson orbs once again. Quickly trying to draw his foot back in, he grabbed for the railing behind him, getting a firm grip on it just before he fell.

He let out a gasp as his weight and the force wrenched on his arms. His back slammed against the cliff face, knocking the breath out of him.

He hung there trying to retrieve his breath. He heard the footsteps of the others, heard them calling, yelling, begging, and demanding. But his mind was else where; their voices were just an irritating sound in the background. His head was swimming and a buzzing sound filled his ears.

_'Wh-what just happened? Did I…? I didn't did I…?'_ thoughts continued racing but they were soon all pushed away as he felt firm grips on his wrists. His head flew back so that he could see what was going on, his skull colliding nastily with the rocks.

Stormy blue irises caught his own eyes and the owner sent a reassuring smile. Refusing to meet the owners gaze any longer, he brought his head back down again, guilt flooding through him. The water continued swirling below him, waves crashing against jagged rocks and suddenly he was grateful. Grateful for them, grateful for her, grateful for life and his thumping heart, his racing pulse. They were all signals that he was alive. His breath hitched, his pulse picked up even more. His breaths came in short gasps, his eyes had widened, pupils dilated. He was going into shock, a panic attack. He felt himself tremble, then start shaking. As everything started spinning and the world turned upside down, his vision blackening, her musical voice was the only thing he heard, her voice crying at him, **telling him that all would be ok**.

Trying to fight off the darkness, he heard their voices as well, asking if he was ok, **telling him it would be ok**, that they would get him up safely, that they were gong to help him, but the darkness won and his body shut down. The shaking ceased, his pulse slowed down and he began breathing normally. But he was totally unaware of the fact that his symptoms had returned to normal because in the world he was in, nothing mattered, everything just went past unnoticed, just like him…

_'They always say it's going to be ok... but it **never** is...'_

* * *

**yes unfortunately this is terribly short but it is just the prologue and the other chapters will be longer. i promise! updates could be difficult cos i have a terribly stuffed up pc and internet (i'm posting this at a friends thats how bad it is) damn bloody thing but anyway... yes so let me know what u think! please please PLEASE!**

**bye!  
kavbj**


	2. Nobody's Perfect! Bull Crap!

**_Nobody's Perfect. Bull Crap!_**

Dancing. That's what he saw as he watched his blade weave in between 4 others. She was dancing again, just like in last nights dream.

Twirling.

_Looking around him, he found himself surrounded by trees and a light mist. He himself was standing on a small bit of land and as he reached out with his foot, the water rippled and made a soft chiming sound that broke through the silence when his toes dipped into it. Looking up again quickly at the sight of a bright light, he saw a young woman dancing on the water. She twirled and leapt from place to place, her long hair flying out behind her, her dress's ends swirling around her legs. Flames danced on her fingertips and as she began spinning, they danced around her, their patterns expressing her joyful mood. She leapt again but did not land. She faded into the mist, still dancing and was replaced by another woman of the same age._

Leaping.

_This new woman danced also, though her movements more defined. Her long hair flying out behind her as she danced, her dress's ends lapping around her legs. She was just as beautiful as the first, though she held a different aura, and her flames a different rhythm. They were fierce, growing in size and ferocity before dieing again._

Spinning.

_The two of them now danced together, their melodious laughs filling the air. They twirled around each other, their flames like ribbons. And as he was pulled away from this world to the world of reality, he saw one overpower the other…_

She sped up at his order and charged towards the other 4 blades. The grey one broke from the back first and came at him. His blade dodged the other at the last minute and disappeared from view. The owner of the grey blade looked around, searching and waiting for when she would appear again. And she did. But not behind the grey blade, the green one. Taken by surprise, the green blade was easily knocked out, his blade dipping in under the green blade and flinging it up and out.

She spun in the one spot, waiting for the next attacker. The grey blade came at him again, this time the yellow blade joining him.

_'Too impatient, always too impatient.'_

They came at her from both sides, planning to grind into her from each side but at the last minute she launched into the air and the two blades grinded against each other. They quickly pulled away and she came down and landed on top of the grey one.

"Reverse rotation!" again obeying his order, she slowed down before picking up speed again, her gears reversing and working the opposite way. As she picked up more and more speed she eventually forced the grey blade to a halt. Pulling away, she spun around the outside of the dish.

The yellow one came again. She met it head on and the two clashed noisily. The pulled away for a second before meeting again. She pulled away quicker and quicker until she was pushing the yellow up against the rim of the dish. The yellow tried to force her back in but it failed and was only pushed out.

She raced along the outside again. Only one left, the most patient of them all, the white blade. It spun silently in the middle and both blades knew what they had to do. They came at each other and met with a rush of power. They continuously smashed into each other, immense power being released each time.

The white pulled back at its owners order. Gears picking up speed, the blade spun faster until it could know longer be called nothing but a blur and soon it disappeared from view. It darted around the dish, smashing into her from different angles.

_'He wont be able to trace it. This match is mine.'_

But he was able to trace. He stood silently, letting the blade take each hit as his eyes followed everything. All sound was drowned out as he focused solely on the two blades. There! He had seen it. And there it was again! Coming back to reality, he watched as feathers fell where his eyes saw the white blade until finally it was trapped in a ring of feathers. The white blade slowed down when it saw that there was no escape. She pulled back, charging all power for the last attack.

"Dranzer! Now!" she charged forward and right into Drigger, who was sent flying out of the dish.

Rei blinked before smiling and collecting his blade. He had fallen for that trick again. His captain had used that on him in the third world championships, though with a whole lot more power.

"Nice one Kai! You beat us all!" Max grinned at the Russian whose crimson eyes just studied the American before switching to the rest of the group.

"You all did fairly well." Kai looked to each blader. "But you could definitely do better. Tyson, dragons are smart thinkers and are loyal to those they work closely with. (**What Kai means:** you came to early and didn't work with the team, hence the reason you, Max and Diachi were kicked out so easily.)

Max a turtle has a strong defence, they are only weak if the predator gets underneath the shell, but the turtle learns how to protect that spot. (**What Kai means:** you have the strongest defence system out of all of us so use it. You could have stopped my attack with ease.)

Diachi, dragons are cunning and creative when it comes to tight situations. (**What Kai means:** you did well when coming at me with Tyson but you need to be more creative. There were quite a few manoeuvres you could have used to escape that last attack.)

And Rei you did well. But tigers have lots of prey, so if they use the tactic they use to catch one type of prey on another type of prey it may not work. Also if the tiger were to continuously use the same tactic, it would soon be learnt, and the prey would know how to escape. (**What Kai means:** You stayed back, letting the others take each other out before you yourself attacked. But you had the advantage because you knew how these bladers played their game. In a normal situation however, that may not work so well. Also you used the same attack. I knew how to evade it and how to win and I did.)

Kai called Dranzer back. He spun on his heel and walked back inside the dojo.

"I guess training's finished then." Said Rei before he and Max put their fingers in their ears.

"**YAY!!!!**" the birds in the near by trees flew off startled as Tyson and Diachi yelled.

* * *

They walked through the automatic doors and made their way to the front desk.

Leaning on the counter, Tyson said, "hi! We're here to see Mr D!"

The lady smiled. "Of course! You can go up right away and I'll let him know that you're here."

"Thanks!"

* * *

The 'Breakers walked through the corridor, talking and laughing. Kai stayed behind the team and walked silently. Feeling that he was being watched, he opened his eyes slightly and looked to his right. There, disappearing around the corner, was a pair of white wings tinted with blue, a long, _long_ white sash, and long, _long_ silver hair.

Kai shook his head vigorously. _'I must just be tired.'_

"You ok?"

Kai looked at Rei and nodded slowly. Just as Rei was smiling back, Kai whipped around and stared at the spot behind him. Disappearing into a room was long navy blue, almost black, hair, a set of black wings and a black cloak.

"Kai?"

"I-it's nothing. Keep going." He cursed himself for the stutter at the start but Rei obeyed him none-the-less.

* * *

"Hello boys." Mr D smiled at them as they each took up a chair, Kai leaning on the wall at the back in his usual stance.

Mr D explained to them that the BBA were going through a different ideas and that he just wanted to tell the 'Breakers so that if anything happened or changed, they would know what was going on.

"But for now, you may go to the training room. There is someone there I would like you to meet. It will be your new coach."

Even Kai's head whipped up at this point.

"What? Why?" exclaimed Tyson. "What's wrong with Kai? Has he done something wrong? Is he sick, injured? Is that why you're kicking him off the team?!"  
"Tyson! Tyson! I said nothing about Kai being kicked off the team, he just will no longer be the one training you."

"But-"

"If you don't mind boys, I have some work to do so if you could please make your way to the training room."

* * *

They walked down the corridor once more. This time Kai was at the front, muscles tensed, mind whirling.

The rest of the team was behind him, talking between themselves.

Finally Rei grabbed their captain by the arm and whirled him around, pulling him to a halt. Shocked at the emotion in his Captain's eyes, Rei struggled to get the words out. The hurt in those eyes!

Realising that his mask was breaking, Kai looked away and silently cursed himself. How weak he had become.

"Kai. Kai look at me."

Kai turned back to him slowly but was met with Max's face instead of Rei's. Max reached up and gently placed a hand underneath Kai's eye. Kai narrowed his eyes and Max cocked his head to the side. Every part of Kai's body had tensed at the contact and he was ready to fight if he need to. Pulling his hand back, Max just stood in front of his Captain.

Kai turned and began walking away.

"We will find out what's going on Kai! There's got to be a good reason as to why they wont let you coach us." Tyson called after him.

"Yeah!" agreed Diachi.

"Yes…" someone whispered into his ear. Kai stopped and looked around but no one was there. He rubbed his ear and continued on. "Hurry up!" he called back to the team.

* * *

"Hey guys!" in the same training room stood Bega. They too were training.

"What're you doing here?" Hiro asked.

"We're supposed to be meeting our new coach here." Replied Tyson. "What about you?"

"Other then training these guys, I'm waiting for the new team… I'm supposed to be… coaching…."

"What?! You?! No way!" the two brothers shouted at once.

"Oh you have got to be kidding me!"

"Tell me about it!"

Kai felt as if he had just been slapped. He turned his head away to hide the emotions that he was having difficulty concealing. Why did this hurt so much? It shouldn't be a big deal to him! He shouldn't care at all!

"Because you trusted him. That 'Mr Dickinson'. You trusted him, believed in him and he has done this to you. He has betrayed you, just like everyone else soon will if they have not already. And you know it is true." It was that voice again, that damned whispering and its deceitful and slippery voice.

"Shut up." Kai hissed at it, though there was no one there.

"Sorry Kai?" said Diachi thinking that the Russian had been talking to him.

Kai turned to the 'Breakers in front of him. "Shut _up!_" he shouted. They looked at him startled. What had they said?

Exchanging glances with his own team, Brooklyn smiled and suggested, "how about we start training?"

* * *

They had been through the basics (though nothing as tough as what Kai put them through) and now they were preparing to beybattle.

"Brooklyn you up first and you will go against…" Hiro turned to the Bladebreakers. "Kai."

Eyelids slipped open to reveal bored crimson orbs. They looked up at the speaker before slipping shut again. Kai stood and unfolded his arms. Tilting his head side to side, his neck cracked. Then putting his arms above his head he stretched, his bones making a popping sound. He slowly relaxed and stared at Brooklyn, regarding the orange haired blader and shrugged.

The two stood ready and Tyson went and put some music on. Kai raised an eyebrow questionly only to get a shrug and a cocky grin in return.

On Hiro's mark they launched, the two blades whizzing around the dish and so the battle began.

_Everybody makes mistakes...  
Everybody has those days...  
1,2,3,4! _

(x2)  
Everybody makes mistakes,  
Everybody has those days.  
Everybody know's what, what I'm talking 'bout,  
Everybody gets that way 

Dranzer whipped around, changing the direction she had been going in and coming and charging at Zeus. Kai's mind was too busy, he didn't need nor want to do this.

Sometimes I'm in a jam,  
I gotta make a plan,  
It might be crazy,  
I do it anyway.  
No way to know for sure,  
I figure out a cure,  
I'm patching up the holes,  
But then it overflows.

If I'm not doin' too well...  
Won't be so hard on myself... 

Snapping back into reality, Kai growled as he watched Dranzer get slammed into repeatedly.

Nobody's perfect!  
I gotta work it!  
Again and again til I get it right.  
Nobody's perfect!  
You live and you learn it!  
And if I mess it up sometimes,  
Nobody's perfect... 

"Such a foolish song. And how wrong it is."

Kai's eyes widened before narrowing. It was back.

Brooklyn, thinking Kai's reactions was because of what was happening in the dish, smirked. So the Hiwatari was getting worried 'ey?

Sometimes I work a scheme,  
But then it flips on me.  
Doesn't turn out how I planned,  
Get stuck in quick-sand.  
No problem, can be solved..  
Once I get involved!  
I try to be delicate,  
Then crash right into it!  
But my intentions are good (yeah yeah yeah!)  
Sometimes just mis-understood... 

"**Sometimes** just misunderstood? Then what about you yourself? People have only ever questioned you, accused you and doubted you. Would you call that sometimes?"

Kai turned his head away from the voice and stared intently at the battle

Nobody's perfect!  
I gotta work it!  
Again and again til I get it right.  
Nobody's perfect!

You live and you learn it!  
And if I mess it up sometimes,  
Nobody's perfect!  
I gotta work it!  
I know in time I'll find the way,  
Nobody's perfect...

Sometimes I fix things up,  
And they fall apart again,  
(Nobody's perfect...)  
I know I mix things up,  
But I always get it right in the end.. (You know I do!) 

Still watching the beyblades, Kai's mind became blank and his eyes soul less. He was just a shell, and right now all he wanted was revenge.

Talking:  
Next time you feel like,  
It's just one of those days,  
When you just can't seem to win.  
If things don't go the way that you guys planned,  
Figure something else out!  
Don't stay down!  
Come on everybody... Try again!...

(x2)  
Everybody makes mistakes,  
Everybody has those days.  
Everybody know's what, what I'm talking 'bout,  
Everybody gets that way.

Nobody's perfect!  
I gotta work it!  
Again and again til I get it right.  
Nobody's perfect!  
You live and you learn it!  
And if I mess it up sometimes,  
Nobody's perfect!  
I gotta work it!  
I know in time I'll find the way,  
Nobody's perfect,  
I gotta work it,  
'Cos everybody makes mistakes..  


"This song is foolish and incorrect, is it not?" and much against his will, Kai found himself nodding slightly.

"Nobody is perfect? Nobody but yourself that is."

True. He had been taught his whole life to be perfect, and he had reached perfection. He was not about to let that fall to the hands of "_Brooklyn."_

Looking up as he heard his name called, Brooklyn took a step back as he saw those soul less eyes. What had happened to the fire that usually burned so fiercely?

But the blank look was soon replaced by a wild look, Kai's eyes darkening with rage.

"Destroy him!" and Kai obeyed. Lashing out, Kai ordered Dranzer to smash into Zeus repeatedly. As Dranzer put all her force into the attacks, bits of Zeus's attack ring began chipping off.

"Dranzer!" the phoenix rose from her chip, giving a mighty cry.

Seeing where the battle was going, Brooklyn tried calling his blade back but the dark bitbeast did not obey, instead he too rose and faced the flaming bird.

Kai shivered as a dark chill ran over him. The aura wrapped itself around his heart and began choking it. Kai grunted in pain, as his heart seemed to burn, getting heavy in his chest, emotions whirling and trying to escape. He gave a sinister smirk and whispered, "consider him done."

And Dranzer overpowered the dark beast, slamming into the beyblade and sending it out of the dish, the black beyblade hitting the ground hard.

_  
Nobody's perfect.  
Nobody's! Perfect!  
No No!  
NOBODY'S PERFECT!... _

Brooklyn scooped up his damaged beyblade, the bit glinting. He looked up at Kai who had yet to call Dranzer back. The beyblade whirled around the dish crazily, smashing into the walls repeatedly.

Kai himself was groaning in pain, clutching his head tightly. "Go away!" he hissed. "Leave me alone!"

Hiro stepped forward. "Kai, call Dranzer back, it's time for the next battle."

"Stuff the next battle! He's hurt you idiot!" Brooklyn snapped. Hiro looked taken aback and watched as Brooklyn walked over to Kai.

"Kai? Kai its Brooklyn. Are you ok?"

Kai's sharp breathing was the only response.

Hearing footsteps, the group turned to see a man bending down and picking up Dranzer. He stood and smiled. He walked to Kai, his white shoes clicking on the ground. His long white hair swished against his pale blue suit jacket, the under shirt being white and a silver tie hung from his neck. The collar and cufflinks were a dark rich blue and as he approached Kai, Brooklyn placed a hand on the Russian's shoulder. The man smiled at him.

Kai's breathing slowed and a feeling of peace washed over him. As he raised his head, he froze as he met silvery blue eyes. Kai stood straight and glared at the stranger.

The man chuckled. "Don't worry Kai. I wont hurt you. Here." He held out his hand and cautiously, Kai took Dranzer from his open palm and pocketed her.

Before anyone knew what was happening, Kai held a dagger in his hand and stood ready to attack. He shoved Brooklyn out of the way and stepped warily towards the man. The cold, dark feeling had returned and the voice from earlier was telling him to kill this guy. why he was obeying the voice, he didn't know but he had a feeling he should.

The man was quick. He punched Kai in the gut and the Russian dropped the dagger, doubling over the mans fist in pain.

"It'll take more than a punch to knock me out." Kai grunted, realising the mans intentions.

"I know." And the man brought the side of his hand down and hit one of the pressure points on Kai's neck sharply.

Kai buckled and slumped against the man. The man picked Kai up and handed him to a shocked Hiro. The man smiled and walked off, the door closing with a quiet click.

* * *

From the shadows, deep bluey violet eyes glinted.

"It has begun."

* * *

A winged figure with long, _long_, silver hair narrowed his cold, silvery blue eyes.

"It has begun."

* * *

**there you go! i hope you enjoyed this chappie! the lyrics were 'Nobody's perfect' by Hannah Montanna/Miley Cyrus (which ever u prefer ))**

**i'd luv to know what u think!**

**bye!**

**kavbj**


	3. Arrivals

**Chapter 3 Arrivals**

He called her back and stared at the spot where she had once been spinning. He was late. He knew that. He was hours late but did he care? No. Feeling another presence he raised his head, crimson eyes darting around. His muscles relaxed when he saw _him_ sitting there. _He_ had been showing up for a few days now. Since **he** showed up. He was sure it was **him**. Well _he_ had said that it was **him**.

They had both been in his dreams, haunting him both day and night, and he had yet to figure out who they were, what they wanted and why they were here. They were definitely not of this world.

White wings, silvery white hair, glowing eyes.

Black wings, practically black hair, gleaming eyes.

They were similar yet definitely of different being.

Both walked with grace, one different to the other.

Both knew of untold secrets, one different to the other.

Both held immense power, one different to the other.

Both had goals, one different to the other.

Staring at _him _he stared into those eyes. A deep bluey violet. That was the only way he could describe them. They glinted as they held his crimson orbs.

Spinning on his heel, he left the clearing, the figure fading into the shadows, eyes glinting once again.

* * *

Kai walked into the training room, past the two teams and to the bench. He stretched out on it, lying on his back, looking up and out the window above him.

Hiro stalked over to him and Kai scowled as Hiro's face blocked his view of the window.

"What?" Kai growled as he shoved Hiro out of the way.

"Where have you been? Training started 3 hours ago." Hiro stood there waiting for an answer.

Kai sighed irritably. "Out"

"Out where? And how did you get those scratches? What happened?"

Kai rolled his eyes.

"He sounds like a damn overprotective mother." Kai looked at the tree outside the window and there sitting on the branch was _him_. Kai smirked at _his_ comment.

"Kai?" Hiro demanded.

Kai turned his head so that he was facing Hiro. "Hn."

Hiro glared at he younger teen before sighing. "Anyway, Mr D doesn't think the trainings hard enough for you. He thinks that's why you're not showing up to training because he thinks you've been training yourself. So we've called someone in and he should be here today."

"He'll be here soon."

Hiro turned and Kai sat up. They both looked at the person at which the words had come from.

Sitting on the railing of the balcony that looked over the training room, was the man from the other day, with his long white hair and his silvery blue eyes. He swung his legs back and forth as they dangled over the edge. Pushing off from the railing, he jumped down, startled cries coming from the two teams who had also turned at the sound of the voice. As he fell towards the tiled floor, Kai could have sworn that the long white hair that was trailing behind him became longer and turned to a sliver, making the man look like **him**. Kai blinked and shook his head just as the man landed smoothly with a click of his shoes.

He made his way over to the teams, smiling warmly at each of them. He stopped and stood next to Hiro. He smiled down at Kai before turning to Hiro and saying, "He will be here soon, he's been slightly delayed. Mr Dickinson wishes for me to meet with him when he arrives. Will it be alright for me to wait here until his arrival?"

Hiro nodded. "Yeah sure. I'll just introduce you to the teams." The teams had now come up behind Hiro and Kai had snuck off of the bench while the two had been talking. "Guys, I would like you to meet one of my co-workers, Lucian. He is from England and has only just joined the BBA so I want you to show him that he has definitely made the right choice."

A chorus of greetings rang through the room. Kai let his eyes take in Lucian's appearance. The way he stood, the way he talked, everything.

The warm silvery eyes flicked over to Kai and they suddenly hardened. As Lucian walked over to one of the benches against the other wall he passed Kai and muttered, "Knowledge is power young phoenix and power is something I will never allow you to have over me."

Kai froze and blinked. That was something he himself often said. Coincidence?

"Show off." Tyson muttered as Lucian bowed in greeting towards Hilary and sat next to her. The Japanese girl blushed and stuttered out her own greeting.

"I think he's kinda nice." Said Max as he regarded the white haired man.

"Yeah… lucky Hilary! I wish I could sit next to him…" Ming Ming gave a sigh and resumed her training.

The others slowly followed her example, Kai being the last one to do so as he finally pulled his eyes away from Lucian.

No one saw the dangerous flash of violet in those silvery blue eyes.

* * *

Hilary looked towards Lucian as he stood. Hiro looked also. He quickly excused himself and walked over to the man that had just entered the room. They discussed something quietly before walking over to the others. Hiro stopped training once again and called Kai over.

Kai stood in front of the two older men and regarded the new comer. Shoulder length hair had been pulled off from the mans face and into a ponytail, a few loose strands of navy blue hair fell into deep bluey violet eyes. Dark casual clothes covered the fit body and black boots finished the outfit.

Kai turned and faced Lucian. "Is this him?" he demanded.

Lucian nodded. "Yes, this is Orfeo. He will be the one training _you_. He will take you through physical training as well as training for beyblading."

"…Orfeo… meaning darkness of night… Lucian… meaning light… strange wouldn't you think?" Kai narrowed his eyes at the man before him.

This time Kai saw the dangerous flash of violet. "Yes… it is…" Lucian's face softened once more and he smiled. "Well I guess you tw-"

Kai spun and caught the fist that was coming his way. He glared at Orfeo.

"Well you have sharp reactions that's a start." Orfeo drawled as he pulled out a dagger. He brought it towards Kai who blocked it with his own knife.

"And it seems you're always prepared." Kai said nothing.

Somehow, Orfeo managed to force Kai to the ground and now held him in a position that could be fatal in two ways. He held a dagger to the Russian teen's throat and another hovering above Kai's heart.

"But it seems you aren't able to defend yourself too well."

"Look again." Said Kai, voice, eyes and face blank.

Orfeo frowned and did as Kai had said. Kai also had Orfeo in a position that could be fatal in two ways. One of his arms was wound around Orfeo's back, the knife hovering above Orfeo's heart from behind. Kai's other hand was held innocently in between his and Orfeo's faces. Or so it seemed. His palm was closer to Orfeo's nose, and positioned in such a way that Kai would only need to hit Orfeo's nose with enough force to break the bone. The broken bone would then go up to Orfeo's brain and the move would kill him instantly. **(a/n that is actually possible. my friend said that her brother learnt it when he went through army training or whatever they do...)**

"Hm… very good…" Orfeo drawled as he pulled away and helped Kai up. He then turned to Hiro and said cheerfully, "I'll take him. I'll do it."

* * *

"They're coming here tomorrow."

"All of them?"

"All of them."

Tyson smiled cockily and breathed, "wicked…"

Mr D laughed gently at the Japanese teen. Looking to the team's captain, Mr D studied the pale face and the crimson eyes only to find he could read nothing of what Kai thought about what was going to happen tomorrow.

All of the beyblading teams were going to be arriving at the airport the next day. It was just for a reunion. A banquet was to be held, the theme being a masquerade ball. The BBA thought it was time for the media to discover some of what was going on and only a selected group of journalists would be allowed into the ball.

"You're all going to be picked up and taken to the airport to meet the others. Is that all right with you captain? It doesn't interrupt with any plans or training or anything?"

Kai looked coldly at the head of BBA. "I wouldn't know. I am no longer in charge of this teams training." He closed his eyes and frowned. "Why don't you ask the _coach_?" he spat as his crimson eyes flew open and he glared at the elderly man sitting before him.

Lucian stood at the back and near the door, listening to the words going around. There was a dangerous flash of violet as he felt a dark presence approach the door. There was a knock and at Mr D's ok, the intruder opened it and stepped inside.

Orfeo sent a dark look to Lucian, which was returned, then smiled at the teens looking at him.

"Hey. Sorry to interrupt."

Lucian scoffed.

"_Anyway_ Hiro was wondering when the 'Breakers would be coming down. He said it's almost time."

"Is it?" Mr D looked at his watch. "Oh so it is! Well tell him I'm sorry that I kept him waiting. Will you take the boys with you now?"

"If I may."

Mr D nodded and bid his farewells to the 'Breakers.

"Kai my boy," he called. Kai turned. "Would you stay back for a moment?"

Kai came and stood in front of the man's desk, and it wasn't until everyone else had left did Mr D speak. "Son, the Blitzkrieg Boys will be coming also. I want you to take it easy on yourself and on them. If anything is wrong I want you to alert me right away."

"… How old do you think I am?"

"What? Kai we are not trying to pester you or take away any of your freedom! We just thought that after last year, you may have a few grudges against one another, and then there were the first world championships. Also you grew up together in the abbey and I know that your memories haven't fully returned. There could be some problems, that's all. We are just concerned for your safety."

Kai leaned forward and placed his hands on the desk. "Listen here." He said, his voice dangerously low. "I have not pried into you life, and I wish for you to stay out of mine."

"I just thought –"

"Well you thought wrong then didn't you?" Kai then turned and left a very nervous Mr Dickinson to his work.

* * *

People bustled around, trying to get from one place to another. Outside the air was fresh, the sound of the occasional bird mixing with the dull murmur of the city.

"Why oh why did it have to be so early?!"

"Tyson it's ten o'clock! Grow up already you oversized maggot!" snapped Hilary.

"Exactly! It's ten o'clock! Waaaaay too early!" wailed Diachi.

"Oh be quiet you stupid flea bag!"

"How you have managed to cope with those three for so long without any moral support is beyond me." Kai smirked at the voice. Too true.

"Hurry up guys we need to meet everyone just outside customs." Kenny was jogging lightly from foot to foot. He'd been going through this new fitness thing. Only God knows if it was actually working.

The team followed the short teen, Rei pulling along a sugar low Max.

"Sugar… sugar…sugar…"

"Keeeeeeeeeeeeep walking Maxie."

* * *

The 'Breakers stood just outside customs, looking for the teams.

Max spotted them first, having finally gotten his sugar. Coming through customs were the Majestics.

"Hey! Guys! Guys, yeah over here!"

Hearing the loud obnoxious voice of Tyson, the European team weaved through the crowds and soon they stood before the Bladebreakers.

Johnny greeted each member in turn before his eyes searched for the captain. Seeing Kai leaning against the wall, Johnny sent a heated glare in the direction of the Russian.

Kai opened his eyes when he felt another's eyes upon him. Kai smirked at Johnny and blinked slowly, staying perfectly calm. His smirk grew when he saw the annoyed look that crossed Johnny's face as he turned away.

Soon all of the teams stood there, laughter and chatter filling the air. Kai yawned and was quick to glare back at Rick.

How many people hated him, Kai wondered. Rick hated him, Michael, well practically all of the All Starz. The White Tigers were ok with him. The Majestics, minus Johnny, seemed to have no problem with him. Barthez were fine with him. BEGA had no problems with him; actually Brooklyn and Kai were pretty tight since their battle. Brooklyn favouring the relationship more than Kai. The twins… Julia didn't seem to hate him but didn't seem to like him either; Raul gave him a smile nearly every time Kai saw the boy. Who else…?

Kai sighed and ran a hand through his hair. The only team he was actually somewhat excited about seeing, the one team he missed something terrible, had yet to arrive.

"Oh great they're here…" he heard someone growl. Kai looked up and saw for himself that they were here, and just making their way through customs.

The Blitzkrieg Boys.

Spencer was going through first, face calm and passive but lips moving and amusement dancing in his eyes as he talked to Ian who was coming up behind him. Ian laughed before saying something, the spring in his step still there.

Tala and Bryan were coming up last. Bryan was saying something to Tala, not really paying attention to what he was doing. Tala flipped one of the red bangs out of his eyes and looked back at Bryan and replyed to whatever the falcon had said. Bryan glared at Tala who smirked and said something more. Bryan rolled his eyes and pushed Tala forward and out to where Spencer and Ian were standing.

Kai felt his heart swell and a small smile crossed his lips. He began walking towards the Russian team. Kai stopped suddenly as he saw something.

Men in black suits were posted at random areas around the terminal. One lifted his hand to his earphone and Kai saw the gun holster and the logo engraved into the inside of the jacket. BioVolt.

But not all of the men seemed to be from BioVolt. Some wore different coloured uniforms and Kai knew for a fact that the BioVolt uniform was always the same. So who were these other guys?

And there was the answer. There talking to two of these other guys was a guy who looked strangely like Orfeo and _him_.

Suddenly there was a different voice whispering to him. A silky smooth, soft yet sharp voice. "See only what is true for what you see now will only allow you to be deceived."

It was **him.**

Kai blinked and suddenly he could see.

The guy who looked like Orfeo was _him_. Black wings protruded from _his_ shoulder blades, long dark hair hung down _his_ back and the black outfit and cloak flowed magnificently around _him_. The other men who Kai had not recognised also had black wings, their's even more bat like than _his_. They too had dark hair though of different lengths, none being as long as _his_.

Kai turned to the voice behind him and in all **his** glory stood **him. **Long, long silvery white hair flowed out behind **him**, tied loosely down near **his** waist and again near the ends, which lay on the ground behind **him**. Large white wings, tinted softly with blue, framed the beautiful figure, **his** face adorned with gorgeous yet sharp features, **his** pale blue silvery eyes with a strange mix of violet stared gently at the Russian teen before **him. His** white robes swirled around **his** feet, the white sash wrapped around **his** waist lead over **his** shoulder and fell alongside **his** hair, pooling next to the ends of the silvery white hair. **(a/n if anyone watches or has watched CCS, then imagine Yue cos this character is going to be based off of him probably)**

Kai gave a sharp intake of breath. Never had he seen someone so breathtakingly beautiful. And Kai was pretty sure he was straight but **his** features could turn even the straightest of all straights gay.

Those glossy lips moved and formed one word. _"Kai."_

"Kai?"

Kai blinked and everything was gone.

Tala smirked. "What? Aren't you going to say hi to a couple of old friends? Though I don't consider myself _that_ old." The redhead looked over himself before catching Kai's eyes with his own.

Kai smiled. He couldn't help it. He had missed them for so long and now that he had gotten to see them again he realised that no matter how long it had been… they were still the same and they always would be.

* * *

One of those who worked under _him _watched as the target moved through the crowd. 4 others walked next to him. The one with the lilac hair talked to the one with the long black hair and soon the red head joined in. The small one and the large one talked between each other, both of them laughing every now and then. But the target walked silently and slightly behind. His eyes watched everything and everyone. All of the boys, except the one with the long black hair, radiated a dark aura that filled the one watching with a yearning. But the target emitted the darkest, coldest and cruellest aura of them all. It enveloped his soul, wrapped itself around his heart and left him empty.

"Perfect." Breathed the one watching. But that feeling of cruel pleasure was replaced with a loathing as a dim light lit itself in the targets heart, giving him a sense of hope.

Making a diamond with their fingers, the figure looked at the target through the diamond. "Captivate." The one watching whispered, and slowly the dark aura surrounding the target grew before it started moving towards the one watching. It looked liked smoke as it made its way up and the light that had lit itself was quickly diminished.

* * *

Kai walked behind the Russians and Rei as they talked. His crimson orbs watched everything that was going on and they followed every person that walked past. He felt a strange feeling of hope, for what, he did not know.

As he continued walking, his breathing became constricted and began slowing, as did his pace and soon Kai stopped altogether. He brought a hand up and clawed it over his heart, which felt as if it weighed a tonne. As the world began spinning, Kai saw two figures standing out quite clearly. _Him_ and **him**. The darkness clouded his vision and soon he knew no more.

Hearing a quiet thud, Bryan looked behind him, his eyes widening. He twirled around and ran over to the fallen phoenix, his team right behind him.

"Kai? Kai!" he called as he rolled the phoenix over. The paparazzi that had managed to keep themselves hidden now swarmed above the Russians and the 'Breakers as they called to their fallen friend. But Kai lay there, looking like that of the dead.

* * *

The one watching cut of the connection. The aura stopped in midair before it swirled back towards the target, who slowly stirred, the others with him helping him to sit up. The one watching smirked at the shaking target. His eyes were wide and his face was pale. He looked haunted.

Turning, the one watching froze as they met with the deep bluey violet eyes, with a strange mix of silver, of the one they worked under. Fearing that they had done something wrong, they thought of an explanation they could use but to their surprise, _he _smiled.

"Very good." _He_ murmured.


	4. Suicidal?

**Chapter 4 ****Suicidal?**

**K I understand that lately the story has been slightly confusing but do not worry! It should all be explained in this chappie! Well most of it I think…**

"…And in other news; the captain of the world champion team the Bladebreakers, collapsed yesterday while meeting fellow bladers at the local airport. BBA has currently given no statement about Kai Hiwatari's status and many fans have been sending their best wishes to the Russian teen…"

Kai sighed as a shot came up of him laying on the ground out cold. The news channel had filmed the whole thing, from him passing out to him regaining consciousness and then getting up and walking away as though nothing had happened.

With another sigh, Kai switched the telly off and settled back against the couch, mind deep in thought.

Not looking behind him, he grabbed the remote and flung it behind him. It whizzed through the air like a bullet and hit the wall hard.

Kai glanced behind him to find a very shocked Tyson standing there with his mouth open like a fish.

"Sorry…" Kai mumbled as he turned away again.

"N-nice shot… lucky too…"

"Mm actually it was a near miss." Kai heard Tyson gulp and he smirked. Good to know he could still penetrate their soft hearts and fill them with fear. The smirk disappeared and his face hardened. "You came here for a reason."

Tyson looked puzzled before he remembered why he had come to see Kai. "Oh yeah, just checking on ya!"

Kai groaned as he let his head flop back and rest against the back of the couch. Gosh this was irritable.

Ignoring Kai's reaction, Tyson walked over to the windows mumbling, "why is it so dark in here?" and he flung open the curtains.

Kai closed his eyes against the sudden light and reopened them slowly. He gasped and sat up straight. There was a reflection of Tyson in the window and it mimicked absolutely nothing that the Japanese teen did. As Kai studied the reflection warily he wrinkled his nose in disgust at the pale, sickly green skin, the dark messy hair and the yellow, lizard like eyes. The thin lips pulled back into a smile and Kai gagged at the razor sharp teeth that had black liquid oozing from in between them. The liquid ran down the reflections chin and a purple tongue flicked out and licked it up. And yet somehow the reflection looked like Tyson.

Tyson didn't seem to notice. He turned back to Kai and frowned at the expression on the Russian's face.

Trying to lighten the mood he asked, "what? I'm not that ugly am I?"

Kai pulled his eyes away from the reflection and looked at Tyson.

"You know what," said the Japanese teen as he looked at himself, "It's probably best that you of all people _don't_ answer that question." He looked at Kai again and smiled.

But Kai's eyes had gone back to the reflection that was pulling out a ragged dagger and seemed to be seeping through the window and into the room.

"Tyson! Move away from the window!"

Tyson spun abruptly and stared at the window. "What?! Kai there's –"

"Now!"

Tyson obeyed just in time. Kai jumped up from the couch and charged towards the reflection.

"Kai? Kai what are you doing? Kai!"

Kai ran at the window ready to attack, his surroundings suddenly changing to a dark room. There was no window, there was no Tyson, no couch, no television, and Kai was running towards the reflection that was standing in the centre of the room.

Just as Kai reached the reflection, the illusion shimmered and faded and Kai realised too late what was happening.

Tyson watched, startled, as Kai charged at the window.

"Kai stop! Stop!"

But Tyson's shouts were futile. He watched in shock as Kai crashed through the window.

Kai brought his hands up and tucked his knees in as he smashed through the glass. The glass scraped against his arms and tore his clothes and the next thing Kai knew, he was hurtling from the second story, to the ground. Waiting for the sharp pain, Kai shut his eyes tightly.

But the pain never came. Instead Kai felt himself stop seconds short of when he presumed he should've hit the ground. Hesitating, he opened his eyes only to meet with a pair of silvery blue orbs.

Kai's mind still didn't process what was going on.

"Are you ok?" asked the owner of the silvery blue eyes.

Kai's mind snapped and he realised who it was. Pushing himself away, Kai planted his two feet on the ground hurriedly and stood on his own before hurrying to get away, stumbling due to his shock.

When he was sure that Kai was inside, Lucian let his face fall and harden. Narrowing his eyes he turned on the spot, searching.

Up in his hiding spot cloaked in the shadows, Orfeo watched Lucian look around before the white haired man scowled and stalked inside.

Orfeo smirked and wrapped his black wings around him. In a dull flash, he disappeared.

* * *

"Here." Lucian dropped 8 booklets onto the table and crossed his arms. 

Oh he was in _such_ a _cheery_ mood.

Each member in the room, other then Lucian, took one of the booklets.

"What's it for?" asked Hiro who had called training off for both teams after yesterdays little incident.

Lucian's head whipped towards Hiro, his hair, which he had pulled back into a ponytail, swished madly behind him. "Read it," he hissed. "And you'll find out."

Hiro stared in shock at the white haired man and nodded slowly.

Lucian switched his gaze to Hilary who had also been staring, she'd also been thinking how gorgeous he looked with his hair up like that and his nose wrinkled slightly, eyes narrowed. Tyson thought he looked like an angry woman but anyway.

"What?" Lucian snarled at the girl. Hilary blinked.

"S-sorry. I just… I'm sure he'll be here soon. Orfeo I mean. I'm sure he'll show up."

Lucian scoffed. "You think I care about him? He could dig a hole and I'd personally bury him alive."

Rei looked up from the booklet. "So…" he started as he tried to think of something else to talk about. "This booklet… um…"

"There's one booklet left… and everyone's here. Oh look, Kai doesn't have one. _Big_ shock."

Kai jumped at the mention of his name and looked towards Lucian, surprised at the violet that had mixed itself into the mans eyes.

"Wow looks like someone's grown. He finally has a bit of sarcasm in him. Can he take care of himself now?" Kai retorted as he rested his chin in his hand and glared at Lucian.

"This coming from the boy who threw himself out of a window no less than 15 minutes ago.

"What?!" exclaimed Rei. He turned to the boy next to him who had gone rigid. "Kai? Is this true?"

'Oh well shit.' Thought Lucian as he sighed and flicked a loose strand of hair off his face. 'Guess they don't know yet. Greaaaaaaaaat one.'

Kai suddenly became very jumpy. "What? I- he-" he choked on his words. He snatched up the last booklet sitting on the table and glared at Lucian. "Look it doesn't matter! I'll explain later."

"No not 'later'. Now!" demanded Hiro.

"I said later!" hissed Kai, eyes narrowed and lip pulled up in a snarl. "I'm leaving." He got up and stalked over to the front door, grabbing his coat and the spare keys, he left, slamming the door behind him.

Lucian fell into the chair behind him none to gracefully and stared at the floor.

"Read the booklets." He whispered, his bangs shadowing his eyes. "They'll explain themselves. Here are your invitations to tonight. I'll see you there." With that, he got up and walked out the front door, closing it with a quiet click.

* * *

Walking down the street, Lucian undid the little bow that was keeping his hair up. It fell down his back, the wind quickly picking it up. Taking of his suit jacket, he chucked it to the side, not caring for it. He rolled his sleeves up to his elbows and kicked off his shoes, his socks following. Quickly braiding his hair, he brushed away the loose hairs that had already escaped the loose plait and broke out into a brisk jog. Slowly his speed picked up until he was sprinting down the pathway. 

Dodging people, animals and objects, he kept running. Turning the corner sharply, he quickly avoided crashing into a little boy with his mum and his balloon. Without stopping he apologised and continued running, heading for where he was certain Kai was going for. The beach.

* * *

"Hey sorry I'm late!" called Orfeo as he stepped inside the dojo. Seeing everyone's faces he said "aw. I'm touched. You're all that sad that I hadn't shown up earlier?" 

Rei gave him a once over before turning back to staring at the wall. "Lucian left a few minutes go. He's already explained everything to us. Sort of."

"O…k… then. Well why the long faces?"

"Kai smashed through a window this morning." Stated Max as if it was an everyday thing.

"Yeah I'm gonna need to know more."

"He and Lucian got in a fight or something. I'm not really sure what happened. They were both angry, Lucian especially, and I guess that riled each other up. Kai left first and I guess Lucian went after him," explained Tyson.

Orfeo sighed and turned back to the front door. "I'll go see if I can find them." And then he was gone.

Rei stood, causing Hiro to look up. "We'll go to."

Hiro nodded, and watched as one by one they stood and left.

* * *

Lucian slowed down as he saw Kai. Quickly darting behind a tree, he stayed there as he let his breathing calm down. He looked over himself and rolled his eyes. Loose strands of his long hair fell across his face and down his back. His shirt was no longer tucked in and as he had been running, he had unbuttoned the two bottom buttons and the two top ones. The shirt now sat messily and one sleeve was almost off of his shoulder. 

Kai sat on the railing and looked down at the crashing waves. He raised his head when the warmth of the sun disappeared but he found that everything had disappeared. Standing up and suddenly alert, he watched in shock as the railing slowly vanished and Kai was left alone in the inky darkness.

"Oh this is just great." He muttered. Dranzer cooed in his head and Kai gave a relieved sigh. "At least you're still here." She cooed again.

"Hello Kai. Talking to yourself are we?" Kai turned to the voice and smirked. Standing there was _him_.

Kai followed _him_ through the darkness until they came to a halt.

"He should be here soon." Explained _him_. "In the meanwhile, please take a seat."

Kai blinked twice as inky tendrils rose from what he supposed was the floor and formed a chair. Not wanting to disobey this creature, Kai did as _he_ suggested, ignoring the fact that _he_ sounded quite similar to Orfeo.

_He _came closer to Kai and looked at him. Kai observed _him_ as well, taking in _his_ appearance. _His _black wings were currently fanned out in all their might. As _he_ walked around the chair, _his _black robes trailed behind _him_, _his_ ponytail swishing. Kai noticed that _his_ hair was just shorter than Rei's. _He_ stood in front of Kai again and Kai stared into the bluey violet eyes, the ones that had a strange glint to them and an abnormal mix of silver in them. _His_ navy blue, almost black, bangs fell across _his_ face, one longer strand of _hair_ falling down _his_ cheek.

"So how much do you remember?"

Kai cocked his head to the side.

"About him and I?"

Kai again just looked at _him_.

"Obviously nothing. Well I can fix that." _He_ stretched out a long slender tanned hand and went to touch Kai's forehead.

"Leave him." _He_ spun and smirked at **him**.

"Yue I was onl-"

"Shut up Donovan."

"So those are your names." They both looked to Kai.

Donovan tilted his head to the side and crossed his arms, his tanned hands being hidden by the dark robes. "You really do not remember."

Yue narrowed his silvery blue eyes, the violet in them flashing dangerously. "Yes and you will do nothing to help him remember."

"Fine, fine." Donovan replied absentmindedly as he studied Kai again. Suddenly Donovan's widened, narrowing just as quickly. "They are coming."

"Well release your hold." Yue turned his attention to Kai. "Call on me if should need anything." And in a silver flash, he was gone.

Donovan smirked in a way that made Kai feel nervous. "Good. Now that he is gone, I can _study _you better."

Kai licked his lips as he followed Donovan's every movement with his crimson eyes. When Donovan went to touch Kai, his hand was blocked by something.

"I am not stupid." Yue's voice came ringing from behind Kai, and the Russian teen felt a firm hand being laid on his shoulder.

As Donovan reached out again, Kai saw the silvery transparent barrier blocking Donovan.

Donovan glared at Yue before disappearing in a dull flash. Slowly the darkness receded, taking Yue with it.

* * *

Kai found himself back on the railing, looking out at the blue sky. 

He looked over the edge, stared at the waves crashing below him. His scarf whipped in the wind and as he spread his arms out, he closed his eyes and breathed deeply. How he longed to be free sometimes. People said when you jumped it felt like you were flying until you hit the ground. There were so many times when he had thought of that option when it came to escaping, that and many more but he had constantly punished himself for even considering those options. He wasn't weak. He had told himself that so many times and look where he was now. Still, there was always that voice that would speak up. _'Who are you trying to convince? You? Not weak? Ha!'_ after hearing it so many times he had learnt to ignore but there were always times where it was so strong, daring him, pushing him, urging him to take the plunge. _Take the plunge._ Oh how he would love to…

**Their voices rang through the silence, calling his name.**

His eyes snapped open, revealing crimson orbs once again. Quickly trying to draw his foot back in, he grabbed for the railing behind him, getting a firm grip on it just before he fell.

He let out a gasp as his weight and the force wrenched on his arms. His back slammed against the cliff face, knocking the breath out of him.

He hung there trying to retrieve his breath. He heard the footsteps of the others, heard them calling, yelling, begging, and demanding. But his mind was elsewhere; their voices were just an irritating sound in the background. His head was swimming and a buzzing sound filled his ears.

'_Wh-what just happened? Did I…? I didn't did I…?'_ thoughts continued racing but they were soon all pushed away as he felt firm grips on his wrists. His head flew back so that he could see what was going on, his skull colliding nastily with the rocks.

Stormy blue irises caught his own eyes and the owner sent a reassuring smile. Refusing to meet the owners gaze any longer, he brought his head back down again, guilt flooding through him. The water continued swirling below him, waves crashing against jagged rocks and suddenly he was grateful. Grateful for them, grateful for her, grateful for life and his thumping heart, his racing pulse. They were all signals that he was alive. His breath hitched, his pulse picked up even more. His breaths came in short gasps, his eyes had widened, pupils dilated. He was going into shock, a panic attack. He felt himself tremble, then start shaking. As everything started spinning and the world turned upside down, his vision blackening, her musical voice was the only thing he heard, her voice crying at him, **telling him that all would be ok**.

Trying to fight off the darkness, he heard their voices as well, asking if he was ok, **telling him it would be ok**, that they would get him up safely, that they were gong to help him, but the darkness won and his body shut down. The shaking ceased, his pulse slowed down and he began breathing normally. But he was totally unaware of the fact that his symptoms had returned to normal because in the world he was in, nothing mattered; everything just went past unnoticed, just like him…

_'They always say it's going to be ok... but it __**never**__ is...'_

* * *

**hope that explained a few things.**


	5. Fights of Every Kind

**Chapter 5 Fights of Every Kind**

He stood in the room alone, dressed and ready, mask dangling from his pale hand. He spun around slowly, feeling another presence, but found no one. Letting it pass, he walked silently over to the single chair in the room and sat down, waiting for his companion. Friend? No. He refused to call them that. They were just companions. Right?

Shaking his head, he looked up and stood when his companion stepped out of the bathroom, flashing him a smile. He watched as his companion sat on the bed and began to pull their shoes on. Without thinking, he walked over to the bed and sat next to them, absentmindedly beginning to braid the black hair.

"Where'd you learn to braid?" asked Rei as he tied up his shoelaces and reached for his shirt.

Kai stopped and held his hands there. Not answering, he began to pull the braid out.

"Wait." Rei's voice stopped him. "Leave it in. It's nice."

Somewhat surprised but not letting it show, Kai nodded and finished the braid before tying it up and letting it fall from his grip.

Rei stood and felt the braid with his fingers. His flashed a smile at Kai who was still kneeling on the bed. "Perfect."

Kai blinked. Perfect? Yes the braid was perfect. There were no loose strands of hair, no bumps, nothing out of place. But that was what he strived for, what he was supposed to be wasn't it? Perfection. The word itself was perfect. It rolled off the tongue easily and was easy to spell. Yet pronounced or spelt wrong, then the word was ironic for the word itself would no longer be perfect.

Kai shook his head and climbed off the bed silently. He waited while Rei grabbed his own mask from the dresser.

"Kai are you sure its ok for us to use these masks? I mean, they're really pretty and all but they look really expensive. They've got jewels on them for Christ's sake! And you've let us all use a few items of clothing, heck the two dresses that Hilary is wearing and all the jewellery is yours! Are you sure?"

"They're not mine." Kai turned and headed for the door.

"Then whose are they?" Rei looked to Kai as the Russian froze, his hand hovering above the door handle.

Opening the door and giving a side-glance to Rei, he replied, "no one important."

* * *

"Hello?" Kai's voice echoed through the darkness. And that's all there was, darkness.

Hearing the sound of something hitting water, Kai turned.

A quiet sob broke through the silence as well as a quiet "why?"

A winged figure lay before Kai. He pushed himself up on to his hands and knees; a tear dripped off his chin and hit the floor. The floor rippled and the outlines of the ripples turned silver.

"Yue?" the figure quickly turned their head in the direction of Kai's face and indeed it was the silver haired man.

The image faded away and once again, Kai heard a drip. Turning once more, he saw another figure leaning against an unseen wall, bangs shadowing his face. A tear rolled down his cheek and hit the floor. Again the floor rippled. And again there was a quiet "why?" The figure hugged themself and bit their lip.

"Donovan?" the figure looked up at Kai and stared. Soon Kai felt two pairs of eyes on him.

Yue was kneeling next to Donovan and both of them stared at Kai.

No one moved and everything was quiet.

Both pairs of lips opened and whispered one word. "_Kai._"

* * *

"Kai did you hear me?"

Kai blinked and looked at Rei.

"I asked if you had shown the others how to tie their ties?"

"Oh. Yeah."

"Then I wonder what's taking them so long?" mused Rei as he pursed his lips.

"Its Tyson, Diachi and Max, that should be pretty self-explanatory." Replied Kai. He put his head in his hands and sighed, closing his eyes.

He had never felt so numb. So empty or confused. So lost. He felt like he was walking through life not seeing, not hearing, not feeling, not believing, not living. What was there to live for? He could try talking to one of the Blitzkrieg Boys, possibly even Rei… Yue said to call on him whenever he needed him but how was he supposed to do that when he didn't know how to call for him. Was he just supposed to shout out his name? And what about Donovan? Kai hadn't seen either of them since earlier today, not since… Kai shuddered and pulled his head up. No, he would stop thinking about that, no more. It was all getting too ridiculous. Everything was just changing so suddenly and Kai was letting himself get caught up in it all. _No __**more**_

"You idiot! Look what you did!"

Kai looked to the door when he heard the furious screech. The door flew open, hitting the wall with a bang and Hilary walked into the lounge.

"Uh… Hilary! Um… what's… wrong?" Rei asked in what he hoped was pure innocence. Though he took a few steps away from her.

"Look at my hair!" she screeched. So both Kai and Rei did. Neither of them saw anything wrong with it. It was up in the hairpiece that she had borrowed from Kai and it had curled. Loose strands fell down everywhere but in all the right places.

Seeing that Rei was too scared to dare ask the question, Kai did. "Hilary what's wrong with your hair?"

"He," she jabbed her thumb in Tyson's direction, who had just walked into the room with Max and Diachi. "He ruined it!"

"Hilary there is nothing wrong with your hair. It looks beautiful." Complimented Max.

"Oh don't you give me that! You're just siding with Tyson!" she screamed.

"Well of course he would!" shouted Tyson, annoyed at being accused.

"Well he shouldn't because you're nothing but a –"

"ENOUGH!" Kai let his head fall back down, bangs covering his eyes. He looked up and peered through his long bangs, eyes furious. "All of you just shut the fuck up. Hilary, there is nothing wrong with your fucking hair; it fucking suits you and what you're fucking wearing. Tyson I don't fucking know nor fucking care about what the fuck you did but don't fucking do it again. If it was a fucking accident and Hilary was just fucking overreacting then I want you to fucking apologise for fucking annoying her and Hilary I want you to fucking apologise to Tyson for fucking jumping to fucking conclusions and for fucking screeching like a fucking whore. Then, you shall fucking apologise to Max for fucking yelling at him when he was fucking innocent. Then we shall all fucking head the fuck outside and climb in the fucking limousine that will take us to the fucking ball. Anyone forget their fucking invitation or their fucking mask then so help them I shall fucking rip out your fucking intestines and force you to fucking eat them. I shall then fucking rip them the fuck back out and fucking use them to fucking strangle you. Tyson if you fucking act like a fucking pig and fucking embarrass any member of this fucking team then I fucking promise you that you shall fucking breathe your fucking last in my fucking grasp. Everyone get the fucking point? Good. Any fucking questions? I didn't fucking think so. Is that fucking clear?" he hissed. Kai stood, glared at each one of them and left the room.

"I don't think I've ever heard him say so much." Muttered Tyson as he took his mask from Max and apologised to Hilary.

"I don't think I've ever seen him swear so much or seem so uptight." Mumbled Rei as he crossed his arms thoughtfully.

"Are you sure it'll be fine for him to go out tonight?" asked Max. He stood next to Rei and worriedly looked at where Kai had been sitting.

"I'm sure he'll be fine Maxie." Hilary came up next to him and gave him a comforting smile and then handed Diachi's mask to him. "Come on, let's go."

* * *

Hiro sighed and looked at his watch. They were late. 'Wonder whose fault that is?' he thought as he sighed again. He was currently waiting at the entrance to the BBA building, having already sent The Justice 5 inside. The team preferred to go by that name now.

A sleek black limousine pulled up and the fans began screaming. The chauffeur hopped out of the car and opened the door. He held his hand out as two feminine legs appeared, shortly followed by a petite hand which took the chauffeur's offered hand and allowed him to help pull her out. And there stood Hilary. She took a few steps forward to make room for the next team member. And out climbed Kenny, whom had been picked up on the way. He too stepped forward and waited. Suddenly the sound of angry shouts filled the air, so loud that they could be heard over the screams of fans. Hiro ran a hand over his face and sighed when he saw the scene.

"Move monkey-boy! I'm going first! The fans need to see their world champ!" yelled Tyson as he tried to push Diachi out of the way.

"As if Piggy! I'm going first!" and Diachi shoved against Tyson, the both of them trying to get out at once.

The chauffeur coughed politely. "Err, sirs? The others are waiting." The man pulled back startled, as the yells got louder.

"See Diachi! The others are waiting for me! They're practically begging to see me!"

"Practically begging? They are begging! To see me that is!"

'Poor guy.' Thought Hiro as he stared at the two teens. 'He never saw it coming.'

Finally, the two managed to get out, though Hiro was sure there would have been a few life threats and a friendly shove from Kai.

The screams of fans got louder as Max climbed out, blushing suddenly at all the attention. He waved shyly and hurried over to Tyson.

The volume of screams once again increased as Rei stepped out smoothly. He smiled and waved, quickly swapping hands when he realised he was waving the hand that held both his invitation and mask. He looked back at the limo and laughed at Kai's expression as the Russian climbed out.

Hiro was forced to block his ears as the fans roared with excitement and pleasure.

Kai stood there and blinked slowly a few times, eyes taking in the area. He stuffed his hands in his pockets, his mask dangling from his wrist, and closed his eyes already heading for the entrance.

After being persuaded by Rei, though he did it more to shut the neko jin up, Kai signed a few autographs, stopped for a few photos, shook a few hands, got a bit weary when he received a bunch of hugs and then finally cried out in rage, shock and irritation as some people, both male and female, kissed him or groped him, some doing both. Rei grabbed Kai by the wrist and helped him get through, the security having a difficult time holding people back.

Rei was forced to a halt when he felt a jolt to his arm. He turned around and cried out when he saw a girl swapping saliva with his captain. Kai was struggling to push the girl away but there were too many people. Rei helped Kai shove the girl away and pulled Kai along with him, though not before a guy got his turn at swapping saliva.

When the pair finally burst through the doors, their team, Hiro, Lucian and Orfeo were already there and waiting.

Rei and Kai walked over, Rei not letting go of Kai's hand for fear of two things. One being that Kai would probably run outside and attempt to murder the two people who had dared to pash him and then he would try to kill Mr Dickinson for bringing up the idea of a ball where the public knew about it, and the Russian was already on bad terms with the head of BBA.

The second reason being that Kai seemed quite shaken up, and with the way he had been going lately, Rei was afraid that Kai would freeze up and faint or something. He was hissing under his breath, "never again! No more! Never!" over and over like a mantra, more hate and malice put behind the words each time. And Rei could feel Kai tensing under his grip, giving away the fact that Kai was getting mad and therefore this would lead back to the first fear.

"Let go." Snarled Kai as he pulled his hand away and stalked past his team, spitting furiously.

"What's his problem?" asked Tyson, glaring at his captains receding back.

"You don't wanna know," muttered Rei as he followed Kai. This was going to be a looooooooong night.

Kai stepped into the large room and sighed. He pulled his black, gold and crimson mask on, rolled up his sleeves and loosened his tie. People walked around, everyone masked and dressed in formal. From what Kai could tell, all the teams were there and oh look, so was the paparazzi.

Kai glanced at Rei as the boy walked up next to him. Kai walked towards the tables and fell into one of the seats. He crossed his legs and rested his chin in his hand, closing his eyes lazily.

"Oh look who it is."

Kai opened his eyes and looked up at Michael and Rick. Giving them a once over, he closed his eyes again.

"Oi! Kai! I hear you're getting suicidal and all. I mean like, throwing yourself out a window and then attempting to jump off a cliff? What's next?"

"But can you really blame him Rick? I mean, with a grandfather like his, you know the insane kind, it wouldn't really surprise me."

Kai mentally groaned as Eddy's voice was added to the conversation.

"Then there's the betrayals, and the smug attitude and the freaky red eyes, the stupid hair, the childish face paint…"

Kai growled. They were going too far!

"Oh and lets not forget those Baby Boys, you know the other Russian freaks?"

That was it! Kai stood up, pushing his chair back. The three Americans halted in their speeches and grinned.

"Aww, the little canary getting afraid?"

"Does he need his grandpapa to come and take him back to the stupid Abbey?"

"Hey bastard! Go play in the traffic!"

The three began laughing.

"Rewind and repeat." Snarled Kai.

"What was that demon-boy?"

"I dare you to repeat that." Kai gripped the table tightly, knuckles turning white.

"What? The freak comments? Or the demon thing? How about all of it, you dirty traitor!"

The smirks were wiped off their faces as Kai's fist came flying towards Michael's face.

A pale slender hand shot out and grabbed Kai by the upper arm, halting his movements. Lucian grabbed Kai's other arm as well and pulled the teen back.

"Are you sure you really want to do that?" asked Lucian as he held the struggling the boy tightly.

"Never been more sure about anything in my life. Now let me go!" hissed Kai as he stopped struggling and glared at the ground.

"S-so freak, you need this pretty boy to help you through your anger management?" jeered Michael as he took a step back. Lucian narrowed his eyes at the pretty boy comment but otherwise let it pass. Obviously they did not know, or did not recognise, or did not care, about the authority he had over them _and_ their team manager.

"I always knew he was insane, as is that stupid canary of his. A phoenix? As if!"

"You're nothing but a filthy traitor who enjoys seeing others in pain but enjoys inflicting pain even more. You're no better than your grandfather and that Boris guy, in fact you're worse. Worse than the Baby Boys, worse than any criminal, worse than Satan. You devil child."

"Just ignore them Kai." Whispered Lucian, finding it increasingly harder to hold the Russian back.

* * *

"Hey Tal, look over there." Said Ian as the Blitzkrieg Boys stepped into the room, masquerade masks in place.

Tala did so, slender eyebrow arching when he saw the scene that had caught the attention of what he would call, all the wrong people.

* * *

"You fucking bastard!"

Rei sighed. That could only be Kai. Turning he demanded of the blonde American teen next to him, "Max just what on earth do your ex-teammates think they're doing?!"

"Why? What's going o-… oh."

* * *

"You fucking bastard!" screamed Kai, not caring for who heard. The three Americans kept the insults flowing, and Kai continued screaming. "You fucking idiots have no fucking idea of what you're talking about! Shut the fuck up!"

"You know Kai, I never got revenge for what happened at the First World Championship." Mused Michael.

"_We_ never got our revenge." Added Eddy as he smiled nastily at Kai.

"So we're going to get it now. Where everyone can see the Great Kai Hiwatari fall at the hands. Of. Me."

Lucian narrowed his eyes. What were these boys getting at? And he soon found out.

Kai cried out in blind rage as Michael punched him in the jaw, Rick following with a punch to the gut, causing Kai to bend over slightly and Eddy got his shot in by punching Kai at the base of his neck, causing Kai to cough.

Lucian felt power surge through him as he released Kai and once again there was that dangerous flash of violet.

"I will no longer hold you back Kai Hiwatari. Destroy them in which ever way pleases you my prince."

Too angry to fully notice what Lucian had said, Kai grinned maniacally, a thin line of blood running down his chin from where he had bitten his tongue. Kai wiped it away and growled at the three teens. And before either of them could blink, Kai had successfully delivered a painful punch to each one of them.

Before Kai could inflict more pain, Rei had pushed him against the wall.

"Kai stop it! Look I know you're mad, and they deserve every bit of pain coming at them but the paparazzi's here and they're already interested with you. You can get all the revenge you want, just. Not. Now."

"What was that supposed to be Hiwatari? A punch?" teased Rick.

Kai growled and tried to lunge forward again but Rei leaned his entire body weight against his captain and held him against the wall.

"You know Michael, you have an incredibly loud voice." Michael paled at the familiar voice that hissed the words in his ear. Bryan.

"Now, now Bryan, don't hurt him too badly." Tala mockingly scolded.

"Oh it's the Baby Boys." Teased Eddy.

"Oh shut it already Eddy, either one of those Russians could take any one of you three out single-handedly, they could probably take you all out single-handedly!" Emily placed her hands on her hips and glared at her teammates.

"Michael, take your team and leave mine alone!" exclaimed an annoyed Max. He stood in front of Rei and Kai, his baby blue eyes narrowed.

"Michael, you are the captain of your team. I wish for you to – no. I am ordering you to take your team over to the right side of the room, where you are to stay far away from the Bladebreakers and the Blitzkrieg Boys during the press conference. Understood?" Lucian could be incredibly intimidating when he wanted to, and that constant dangerous flash of violet helped.

Mumbling obscenities, Michael obliged and walked off with his team.

Silently, the Russian team left also.

Lucian glared at the press that had gathered around, soaking in everything that was happening. "I dare any one of you to publish any of this." He hissed, eyes darting around. The press quickly scattered and Lucian walked off without a second glance.

Rei stepped back from Kai and smiled, Max coming to stand next to him. "You ok Kai?" asked Max as he looked at the forming bruise on Kai's jaw line.

Kai stared at them. He wanted to scream, beat something, throw something, lash out at _something! __**Anything!**_ But not his teammates, not his fri-companions. So instead he just turned on his heel and went to go sit down somewhere else.

* * *

Lucian leant his forehead against the cool wall, his breathing coming out in fierce hisses. He took his hands off the wall and buried them in his hair, trying desperately to regain control. He opened his eyes only slightly, revealing the dark sapphire orbs with strikes of silver and violet running through them. Taking in a shuddery breath, Lucian released it as a relieved sigh. He pulled away from the wall and pushed his damp bangs off his face. Making sure he looked appropriate for the press, Lucian stepped back out into the crowd, looking casual. Though a pair of bluey violet eyes gleamed as they saw him emerge. 


	6. Does it Suit or Does it Shatter?

**_Does it Suit or Does it Shatter?_**

He stepped into the large, greatly decorated room. Crimson eyes danced around as they took in their surroundings. He ran a hand through his two toned hair and held the golden invitation up in front of his eyes. As he walked forwards, he threw the invite towards the man standing at the door, the folded piece of fancy paper whizzing through the air like a Frisbee. A hand came up and touched the mask covering his face gently. The hand trailed down to the blue triangles decorating his cheeks and then to the bruise on his jaw. He narrowed his eyes as crimson met emerald, and the red head smiled.

"Nice mask. Impressive bruise too." The red head commented, and then walked off to join the rest of the red heads team, leaving him fairly confused. What was all that about? He sighed and looked around. No press, just the other teams. A private ball… the second destination for the night… lets see how well this was going to work out.

Brooklyn's emerald eyes followed the enigma as he walked across the room, people moving out of his way.

"Oi Brook, you listening?"

"Oh, yeah. Sorry Garland." Brooklyn's eyes fell back on Garland and he smiled at the martial artist.

The night progressed on, and it soon grew late.

Devil child… interesting. Kai tilted his head back and stared at the high ceiling. Did it suit? Or did it just shatter? Shatter all hope, belief, faith and trust. But that would be expected of the person who was given the title… devil child. Definitely interesting.

Kai brought his head down as a familiar song came on. With everything that was going on, it seemed almost… ironic? Maybe that wasn't the right word…

**

* * *

Back at the dojo**

The pen twitched, shaking against the wooden surface its owner had left it on. It brought itself up and balanced on its tip. It edged towards the paper left on the desk, the paper perfectly white, with a tiny drop of red. Its owner's blood. The pen dragged itself onto the paper and began writing in long flowing letters. The ink flowed out, glimmering in the dull light coming in from the window. And so the pen wrote, and the paper soaked all the words up, keeping them permanently.

**

* * *

The Masquerade Ball**

Crimson eyes focused in and out and the words of the song drummed through his head.

Two large doors opened with a bang and three female dancers waltzed into the room. Orfeo and Lucian stepped into the centre of the room and joined the three girls.

Without knowing what he was doing, Kai stood silently and made his way to the centre of the room. Lucian and Orfeo exchanged glances as Kai stepped up next to them.

Never having danced the dance before, Kai stepped into place and joined in, ignoring the eyes drawn to the movements.

The dance seemed traditional and familiar. Was he supposed to know it? Did it hold some sort of… meaning? Kai's eyes caught the eyes of the girl dancing in front of him. For some reason she seemed strikingly familiar.

The song neared its end and something in Kai snapped. Devil child indeed. Oh he was going to have some fun tonight!

Still following the steps, Kai made sure he finished in front of Michael. He stood there panting, staring into the American teen's eyes.

"Devil child… interesting. But does it suit? Or does it shatter? If it suits, it shatters, for that is what the title stands for. If it shatters, then it must suit, for shatter is what is expected of the one given the title."

Michael raised an eyebrow. "It's true what they say Hiwatari, your grandfather –"

"Don't call him that. I am not related to him in any way, I refuse to acknowledge him as my grandfather!"

Michael ignored him, taking note that Kai didn't like it. "Is truly insane, obviously it's a blood thing, its got to be in your blood, for you Hiwatari, just like all Hiwatari's I'm sure, are insane."

"There are no Hiwatari's… for they have shattered, disappeared, no more…"

Michael rolled his eyes. "Listen devil child, just shut up and then drop off the face of the earth, and don't worry, you won't be missed."

"Likewise I'm sure. Your team wont miss you, for you have taught them nothing… Judy and Max? Hmm… well you aren't exactly on good terms with them at the moment are you? So really, you deserve to come with me."

"Like hell I'll go with a devil child!" Michael grabbed the glass of red wine off the table, and threw its contents at Kai, watching in satisfaction as the liquid dripped off the Russian.

Kai's tongue flicked out and he caught a drop of the wine. Drop after drop fell from his bangs and ran into his eyes, dripping off his lashes.

"Michael you bastard!" cried Emily as she stormed over.

"He started it! The insane devil child!" Michael smirked and crossed his arms.

Kai caught another drop on his tongue. He smiled.

Michael shuddered involuntarily. That was one creepy smile.

"Whose blood?" whispered Kai. "Because I'd kill for it to be yours. Such a sweet flavour, and such a rich, smooth texture."

"B-blood?!"

Kai just grinned and took the empty glass from Michael. He held it up to the light and watched as patterns danced across the stained glass. He held it high above his head and looked at Michael. With a wicked grin, he let the glass fall from his hand. It smashed and lay scattered between the two teens.

"Now if I could only do the same to you." Mused Kai.

* * *

Orfeo bit his lip, watching quietly. He made his way through the crowd, heading to Mr D.

"Get security, this could get ugly."

"What? Orfeo, what are you talking about my boy?"

"Just trust me sir."

Mr D nodded grimly and did as Orfeo had suggested.

Orfeo weaved through the crowd again, this time heading for Kai. He caught eyes with Lucian, who nodded and began making his way to Kai also, but from the other side.

* * *

Kai walked over to one of the suits of armour decorating the great room. He yanked the sword from the knight's hand and grabbed another sword from another one.

He walked back to Michael and handed one sword over.

"What's this for? If you want me to impale you with it, then I'd be honoured."

Kai just grinned again and twisted the sword in his own hand. "Lets hope you know how to fence at least." And then he lunged forward.

Michael dropped the sword and ran. Kai smirked and then darted into the crowd, following Michael's movements, and soon he had him cornered. Unfortunately he had grabbed the attention of pretty much every blader in the room. This wasn't going to go down well.

Tala groaned as he watched his best friend drive the sword into the wall right next to Michaels throat.

Michael whimpered as he felt the cold metal wresting against his skin. Kai pulled his arm back, eyes glazed over.

Finish the enemy off. No mercy, no satisfaction, no emotion, no mess.

Kai drove forward; ready to finish Michael off but two other swords came and interfered, stopping the motion.

Kai's glazed eyes travelled to the owners of the two swords. Orfeo and Lucian. Was this training?

Kai jumped back and tightened his grip on his sword.

Michael slid down the wall, face pale. That was… weird.

Block, parry, strike, parry, strike, block, jump, duck, block, flip. Kai worked mechanically, knowing what to do and when without having to think about it.

Lucian growled as he brought his own sword up to block Kai's strike. This was getting ridiculous.

Kai froze, Orfeo and Lucian doing so also. The three sets of eyes travelled around the room as they searched.

There sitting on one of the tables, swinging their legs was a young girl. She grinned, her teeth standing out against her dark ghostly skin. She waved, the lollipop in her hand standing out with its bright colour. She smiled wider, until it looked like her lips would split. Her teeth grew longer and sharper and soon they looked like little razors. The lollipop turned into a gun, which she happily pointed at Orfeo, and shot.

Orfeo swore and ducked. Well this was going to be fun. He's own little minion, if you will, was trying to shoot him. Joy. At least it wouldn't make everything else look too conspicuous, not that that mattered because only three of them could see her. Though neither he nor Lucian would be able to change into true form with all these people, because they would see that, or maybe not. So if anything were to happen to the prince… he didn't want to think about that.

Kai flipped up onto one of the tables and ran along them, finding it the easiest way to get through everyone. Lucian and Orfeo ran along either side of him on the floor.

Raising the sword, eyes still glazed, Kai brought it down and ran it through the girl. Though the second it touched the first hair on her head, she vanished and the sword went right through the table.

Kai pulled the sword up and scanned the room. There. He flipped up and over the heads of the security rushing at him, and landed running. He swung the sword and once again the girl disappeared and the sword crashed into one of the suits of armour, knocking it over. Using his foot, Kai picked up the axe that the knight had been holding and gripped it tightly.

* * *

"You frickin idiot!" hissed Lucian as he ran towards the girl, Orfeo running along side of him.

"Well I wanted to have a little fun tonight." Orfeo smiled cheekily, but quickly ducked when Lucian tried to take his head off. "We could always join, or transform or…"

"And then how do we make them forget? And besides there is no way I am joining! I simply refuse! And we need the order!" Lucian spat as he brought his own sword down, Orfeo quickly diving for where he knew she would appear next.

Orfeo cut through her just as she appeared. He pulled away hurriedly as another sword came through also, and when the girl vanished, he saw Kai standing there.

Orfeo nodded at the teen, who stared back with lifeless eyes.

Turning to face Lucian, Orfeo grinned. "See, there wasn't that much ha- oh shit."

* * *

Lucian scrunched up his features in an expression of pain. Oh just great, Orfeo's the one to blame, and yet he gets shot. Joy. The stupid bitch had to fire at the last minute didn't she? Lucian pulled his hand away from his arm, the warm blood flowing from the wound already staining his suit and covering his hand. At least it was red. He glared at Orfeo as he ran over.

"Oh shit, shit, shit, shit!" breathed Orfeo as he looked at the wound.

"Well how do you think we should explain this genius?" hissed Lucian.

"I don't know!" whined Orfeo. "How do we explain it?"

"An injury I had already obtained some other time, forced back open during the sword dance."

"Sword dance?"

"Well we need an explanation for the whole, fighting what you cant see, don't we?"

"Oh, right, good point."

Lucian stood up straight and took a big breath, pushing the pain to the back of his mind. He picked up the sword he had dropped and nodded at Orfeo, signifying he was ready. The two of them walked over to where Kai was still standing.

And the two of them began a traditional sword dance, Kai getting the point and joining in. They made it short, and as they straightened from their bows, Lucian smiled warmly. "And that is part of tonight's entertainment. A re-enactment and a sword dance. Thank you Michael for joining us." No one made a sound, still busy staring at the threesome in shock.

Slowly, someone began clapping and soon it picked up and the others joined in. Orfeo and Lucian bowed again when the applause stopped.

Kai stood there confused, the fire in his eyes slowly returning. "Re-enactment? There was no _re-enactment_! There was a girl sitting right there with a gun! And mmph!" Orfeo placed his hand over Kai's mouth and laughed nervously.

Kai frowned and bit down savagely on Orfeo's hand, causing him to pull it away.

"You know very well there was! You were fighting her you bastard! You almost got shot, Lucian _did_ and the damn bitch was damn bloody difficult to catch because she kept vanishing every time you swung at her!" Kai turned to face the crowd. "How the fuck could you not fucking notice!"

"There, there, devil child. We all know you're insane." Jeered Michael, smirking as though he owned the world. Eddy and Rick next to him began laughing, and the majority of the crowd joined in.

"Devil child!"

"Fits him perfectly the bastard!"

"Go back to the Abbey!"

The fire in Kai's eyes flared up. The jeers and laughter were silenced when he dropped the sword and axe, and they echoed through the large room with a clang. He looked up slowly ad held his chin up proudly, pushing his shoulders back. He turned around, facing the doors that lead to the garden and he walked towards them, not caring for their thoughts or for their looks, his shoes clicking on the tiled floor.

But the moment he was out in the garden, he broke into a desperate sprint, longing to get away from there, from them. From their filthy looks, cutting words and shunning attitudes.

* * *

Lucian watched as Max ran after his captain. He sat down with a sigh and let his head fall to the table with a quiet thud. His white hair fell around him, having come out of its plait during the sword fight/dance/re-enactment thing.

"Well that went… well." Lucian didn't have to look up to know who it was.

"Shut up." He growled.

"Damn kid and his damn teeth. He has to be part vampire, I swear." Complained Orfeo.

"You know they aren't real."

"They say the same about us." Orfeo replied quietly. The two sat there in silence before Lucian finally raised his head.

"Why do we do it?" he whispered.

"Huh?" Orfeo raised an eyebrow.

"This, all of this. Why do we do it?"

"Because… without us, this world, our world… him…" Orfeo sighed as he tried to put his thoughts into words. "Would you settle for, because we just do?"

Resting his head on the table again, Lucian smiled.

* * *

"Kai? Kai?!" Max ran a hand through his blonde hair as he headed to the beach. The garden was extravagant, with neatly cut shrubs, hedges, roses, a gorgeous fountain in the middle of the paved path and then a beautiful little gate at the end of the garden, leading to the beach.

Opening the gate and stepping silently onto the soft sand, Max smiled sadly as he saw his captain.

Kai was at the edge of the water, crouching down with one hand tucked in, chin resting against his knees and his other hand drawing patterns in the sand next to him. He looked like a curious child.

Max walked forward, he stood still when his captain stood. "Kai…"

Kai looked to the American then looked back out at the ocean. "Do you see her Max?"

"I didn't see her."

"No not did, do. Right there." Kai lifted his arm and pointed. Max squinted and looked hard but he soon gave up.

"I don't Kai."

"Hm… shame. She's beautiful."

Max smiled. "Is she? Can you tell me what she looks like?"

"…Beautiful pale skin, with small but sharp features. Rosy cheeks, glossy pink lips and grey eyes. Long flowing hair, a deep purple, her hair so long that it disappears into the water. Her dress is simple, but stunning. With a striking aqua base and silver assets. And she's just sitting there, the water coming just above her waist."

Max stared at his captain as he described the unseen figure, his voice soft and slow. "She sounds pretty."

Kai nodded and began walking forwards.

"Kai? Kai your suits getting all wet." But somehow, Max knew that Kai didn't give a damn, too lost in his dream world. Max kept a watchful gaze on Kai as the Russian waded out further and further, until he was forced to swim.

Kai came to a stop. Max couldn't help but raise an eyebrow when his captain lifted up a hand and began touching something that clearly wasn't there.

"Kai!" Max cried as suddenly Kai disappeared underwater, almost as if he had been forcibly pulled under. Max waited anxiously but when his captain didn't resurface, he pulled off his jacket, kicked off his shoes and went in after Kai.

Max dived under the surface of the water, searching frantically. Spotting his captain, he took a quick breath and dived under again.

* * *

Kai looked up through glazed eyes as the beautiful figure he had seen earlier, pulled him further and further down, whispering filth in her sweet voice. A shadow swam above them for a split second before disappearing.

_My only regret, that they never understood._

* * *

Max swam deeper and grabbed Kai's wrist, frowning at the unseeing look in his captain's eyes. Wrapping his arms around Kai's torso, Max began kicking towards the surface. Ma grunted at the effort. It felt as though something was trying to pull Kai back down. Finally Max broke through the surface of the water, dragging in precious air. He began to pull Kai back to the sure, mentally begging for his captain to be ok, for his friend to be ok.

"Hold on Kai," he panted. "It's going to be ok dude, I promise."

* * *

Hilary sighed irritably. Ming Ming was going all flirty with Lucian and Orfeo, Mariah wouldn't keep her filthy claws off Rei and both of them were wearing shorter dresses than they had been at the press conference/first destination. And that was saying something.

"Sluts," hissed Hilary.

"Agreed."

"Mm-hm."

Hilary turned to Julia and Emily. "Good to know there's at least two other sane people in this room." The two girls next to her grinned. Sane indeed.

* * *

"Oi Mariah, would you be able to take your slutty hands off of Rei so that we could talk to him?" demanded Bryan as he walked up to the two, Tala and the remaining 'Breakers behind him.

Mariah glared. "Rei-Rei! He's being mean to me!" she faked a sniffle.

"What do you want Bryan?" asked Rei as he tried to pry Mariah from his arm.

"Exactly what I said."

"No! I'm not leaving my Rei-chan alone with a guy like you again! You'll probably try to kill him again!"

Bryan growled low in throat and Tala placed a hand on his shoulder.

"Mariah, just leave will you? Go find someone else to me a whore around." With that, Tala tore Mariah off of Rei and shoved her forward. "Now go."

Emily, Hilary and Julia laughed from where they were. "Way to go Tala!"

* * *

Max rolled Kai over onto his side and tilted Kai's head, letting the water in the Russian's mouth trickle out. He rubbed Kai's back as he rolled onto his stomach and pushed himself onto all fours, coughing viciously. Kai sat back on his haunches and Max pulled his hand away. Kai turned his head slowly towards Max and gave a small smile. "Thanks Maxie, a lot."

Kai's eyes widened slightly when Max threw himself at the Russian, wrapping his arms tightly around Kai in a tight embrace. Getting over his surprise, Kai hesitantly returned the embrace.

Max pulled away and grinned. "Well I'm always up for a bit of a midnight swim!"

Kai rolled his eyes and stood, offering his hand to Max who gladly accepted it.

"Come on, we should be able to walk to the dojo. We're way too wet to walk back into that room at the moment."

Max smiled. "Agreed."

* * *

Kai walked out in just his pants, towel drying his hair. Max had gone before him and was currently sitting at the desk in the room, eyes running over something.

"Hey Kai, when did you write this?" asked Max just as Kai was buttoning up the last button on his shirt. He walked over and looked at the sheet of paper Max had been talking about.

"I… didn't write it… I don't think."

Max frowned. It was the same song that Kai, Lucian, Orfeo and those three girls had done the dance to, just slightly different. Max stood, planning to read the lyrics again later.

"We should head back to the ball." Suggested Max as he grabbed his mask, thankful that both he and Kai had ended up pulling them off on the beach before they had gotten soaked.

Kai nodded.

* * *

"Hey Max?"

"Mm?"

"What do you think of the ball/party?"

Max looked at Kai and then looked at the ground again. "I don't know. Kinda boring I guess. It's been good to see and catch up with everyone but… for example, I have no idea how to ballroom dance, and some of the songs have had a fast-ish beat and there have been songs that we would know, like the one you danced to but –"

"Wait, the song _I_ danced to?" Kai asked incredulously.

"Yeah, don't you remember? It was really cool, and you were really graceful, though you had that creepy look in your eyes again."

"Explain."

Max stopped for a short second, thinking about it before walking again. "Well, your eyes were glazed, and they were seeing, but unseeing… like seeing but unknowing? You get that look sometimes when you're beyblading. And whenever you cry out to Dranzer, it all quiet and serious and cold. Its cool but… ugh I don't know!" Max threw his hands up in the air and let them fall back done to his sides bonelessly.

"No I get it, I think." Max glanced at his captain. He was doing it again. Not the look, but the other thing. Going all quiet and all but different than usual. Max sighed. He was making no sense, even to himself, and he really needed some sugar.

"How about we liven up the party a bit?" suggested Kai as he pulled out his mobile, which he had picked up from the dojo.

Max looked at Kai curiously as the Russian dialled a number and then began speaking in some different language all together.

Snapping his phone shut, Kai looked at Max with a smirk.

"What did you do?" Ma asked suspiciously. Kai shrugged innocently. The two walked in companionable silence until Kai broke it.

"Devil child… what do you think? Does it suit or shatter?" yep Kai had gone into that mood again.

"Well first of all, that question makes no sense to me what so ever. Secondly, I think the title is stupid. You are anything but a devil child Kai; you've got to be the most caring person I know. You've helped our team so much and we would never be able to repay you. Like when I got my fever and you looked after me a couple of weeks ago. Don't look so shocked, Rei told me. And we've seen you show emotion, just like every other human, no matter how hard you try to hide it. I've seen you in pain, when you're upset. I've seen the fire in your eyes grow with passion and determination, or with hate and rage. You can be pretty easy to read once you learn how. A devil child wouldn't do all that; wouldn't _feel_ like that, but you do in so many ways. Don't ever doubt yourself Kai because although you may not know it, we look up to you, we care about you and we're desperate for you to realise it. When you doubt yourself, we begin doubting ourselves, and when your upset, though you mask it so god damn well, it affects the team in more ways than you could imagine. And even if you were a devil child, you're _our_ devil child."

"Since when did you become so observant? You're really low on your sugar levels aren't you?"

"Uh-huh!"

* * *

"Who are they?" asked Max.

Rei glanced at him and then looked back up at the new band setting up. "Dunno. They just showed up and when security tried to stop 'em they said they were here in courtesy of Kai Hiwatari."

"Kai?" Max looked at his captain incredulously.

Kai shrugged. "I have my connections and I use them to my advantage. Enjoy."

"Wait where are you going?"

Kai stopped and turned around. "…Don't worry."

* * *

The party dragged on and the ball neared its end. The band that Kai had called in certainly picked things up and everything seemed to become more enjoyable.

Kai hadn't returned and though his team knew that he was more than capable of taking care of himself, they couldn't bite back the worry that was growing in their minds.

"Thank you to all bladers for coming tonight. Thank you to all our sponsors and staff and thank you to the band behind me for coming, you were definitely more enjoyable to listen to then a CD. And a final thank you to Kai for bringing in the band. But sadly, this concludes tonight. Good night."

The bladers, staff, and band all clapped and then it was all over.

"You guys ready to go?" asked Orfeo as he walked over to the 'Breakers.

"Yeah almost, but we cant find Kai." Replied Rei.

"Oh, he's just saying good night to the band and thanking them."

"Oh."

"There he is!" exclaimed Tyson. Sure enough, Kai was making his way over to them, the band behind him.

"They wanted to meet you guys, and they need a ride, their van's not starting up." Explained Kai, hiccuping afterwards.

Orfeo nodded. "I'll ask someone to take care of it…" he looked at Kai. "Kai you wouldn't happen to be… drunk would you?"

Kai looked thoughtful and licked his lips slowly. "It was so hard to find that sweet delicious liquid that Michael threw at me… there were so many types out the back, and I still didn't find it." He smirked. "It was fun though. Who ever selected those bottles has very good taste."

"You _are_ drunk!" exclaimed Orfeo. "Just how many bottles did you try?"

"…Dunno. I lost count after 14."

Orfeo stared at him.

"Oi Hiwatari!"

Kai turned. He nodded at Tala to show he was listening.

When he and his team were closer, Tala spoke again. "Call me when you get the chance, I –we- need to talk. And yes, it's important, and yes it involves you, and yes – are you _drunk?!_"

Kai nodded and hiccupped.

"Well what do you know, I didn't think you of all people got drunk." Mused Bryan. "Though I guess it depends when the last time you drunk heavily was."

"… A while ago… actually during the tournament…. The competition."

"Since the competition? Well that explains it."

"You're a drinker?" Tyson spun his captain around.

"Get your hands off me Granger, I may be drunk but that doesn't mean it affects me _that_ badly that I become completely stupid and incoherent and begin to act like you. But if you count hiccups as serious... And yes, I'm a drinker. I've been drinking since I was 11. Problem?"

Tyson shook his head slowly.

"Good. Now say good bye, yes Tala I'll call, thank you Kat, Mill, Greg, Lucas and Alex, and now, lets go."

* * *

**there we go! some Kai/Max bonding time. thank u soooo much to those who reviewed!**

**bye!**

**kavbj**


	7. Dreaming of Death, Deceitful Daring

**Dreaming of Death, Deceitful Daring**

"We're staying at the BBA?" asked Tyson as he hopped out of the limo for the third time that night. Orfeo glanced at the Japanese teen and nodded.

"If you had read the booklet you would have known that." Uttered Orfeo as he headed for the entrance, the 'Breakers following. He led them past the front desk and to the lift. As the lift carried them up, he continued on. "You will each get your own separate room with a connecting ensuite. You will stay at the BBA building all week, and may leave on weekends. Before you complain Tyson, Diachi, you might want to know that you can leave anytime you want really, just as long as you make an official aware of that fact and that you report back to BBA, in the flesh."

The doors opened with a ding and a voice came through the speakers, telling them which level they were on and to have a good time. Orfeo lead them down the tiled hallway.

"There will be a meeting tomorrow at 1100 hours. You are to report to that room," he pointed to the door they were passing. "And you will be given a briefing on what is going on. If you have any questions or should need anything, there is a phone in each room with a list of phone numbers. Either Lucian or I will be here at all times, so if you should ever need one of us, just ask a staff member or try the phone. I will be in this room," he pointed at another door. "And Lucian will be here." He hesitated outside the door and bit his lip.

Hilary looked between Orfeo and the door and then made up her mind. She raised her hand to knock but the door swung open, revealing a shirtless Lucian.

He looked surprised for a second but quickly smiled. "Good evening, I trust you all had an enjoyable night?" he pulled the shirt in his hand over his head. "I thought you would be here by now, so I was going to come greet you but you must have gotten here earlier than expected." He stepped out into the hallway and closed his door behind him.

Orfeo's eyes travelled down to the bandaged wound before moving back up to meet Lucian's silvery orbs. "Your arm is… ok?"

Lucian nodded. "If you'll just excuse me, I need to go see someone. Good night." He walked past them and made his way down the way the 'Breakers had just come.

Orfeo began walking again. "Now your rooms are here." He stopped again. There were 7 doors across from each other, 4 on one side, 3 on the other. "Your names are on each door, feel free to take them down if you wish. Hilary, Kenny, rooms have been set up for you if you two wish to stay at anytime but you do not have to. You can come as often, and whenever you please." He turned to finally face the 'Breakers. "That is all for now. You will find out more at the briefing, at _1100_ hours. Ok? Remember the phones should you need anything. To make outside calls press 0 first. To make a call to another room, the numbers of your teammates rooms are on the phone number list next to the phone. Good night." And he walked back to his room, disappearing into it and leaving the 'Breakers to themselves.

They stood there for a while before Tyson finally broke the awkward silence. "What's 1100 hours?"

"Its 11 o'clock." Rei smiled. "You know Mariah asked me about my hair tonight. She said it looked good and asked who did it for me." He sent a glance in Kai's direction.

"Oh? And?" asked Hilary.

"I told her Kai did it. And then… well…"

"Finish that sentence and you die. I do not need to know what that little bitch's reaction was when she found out _I_ did it. I've had enough filthy thoughts from fellow bladers for one night." Kai glared at Rei and then walked into the room with his name on it. Closing the door, he leant against it's surface, bangs covering his eyes. Locking the door, he pushed himself off it and looked around the room.

To his right was another door leading to the ensuite. There was a chest of drawers against one of the walls and a four-poster bed on the opposite wall. The two bedside tables were of the same set as the chest of drawers and an expensive looking lamp stood on each of them. To the right of the bed was a glass door leading out onto a small balcony. There was an armchair in one corner with a tall lamp behind it. To the left of the bed were a desk and chair, pens and paper already sitting neatly on the wooden surface. A large mirror hung above the chest of drawers. Seeing two panels between the mirror and the chest of drawers, Kai walked over and opened them, revealing a telly and a DVD player. He closed the panels again and turned to face the rest of the room.

The room was expensively furnished and quite modernly decorated. Perfect.

Kai walked over to the bed and flopped down onto it, groaning happily when he sunk into it. He rolled over and stared up at the ceiling in thought.

He pulled himself up into a sitting position and shrugged off his jacket. He walked over to the chest of drawers and opened them, finding that his stuff had already been put in them. He added his jacket to the stash and closed them again.

He made his way over to the ensuite and whistled. Wow.

The walls were marbled with gold and silver lining. A bath/shower was to the right and a basin and toilet to the left. The whole room was like its own little art piece.

Kai once again locked the door behind him and began running the bath while he undressed.

Turing off the tap, Kai stepped into the bath, slipping into its steamy waters with a sigh.

Glad that he had gotten the wine off when he and Max had gone back to the dojo, Kai lay there, deep in thought.

He groaned when he heard a knock at his door and someone call his name. He climbed out the bath and pulled the plug. Slipping on a pair of baggy pants, he walked out of the bathroom and opened the door leading to his room.

Rei looked up at Kai and smiled.

"What?" demanded Kai as he leant against the doorframe, arms crossed.

"I just wanted to say… I'm sorry about what happened tonight and for bringing Mariah up and… I was talking to a few people tonight and a lot of people don't think of you like that, and we, well we… how to say this… um…"

"Rei?"

"Um… well we don't think… um…"

"Rei."

"You have… um…"

"Rei!"

Rei looked up. "Y-yeah?"

Kai rolled his eyes. "Don't worry about. Its my problem, not yours or any one else's, I can deal with it."

He went to close the door but Rei stopped him. "No Kai, it is our problem. We don't like the way the others are treating you, and its obviously starting to get to you!"

Kai looked surprised. Had he let his guard fall that much? "Do you trust me?"

Rei blinked. That was out of the blue. "Yes. I'd trust you with my life, with Drigger, with everything."

"Then trust me when I say I can deal with it."

"But Kai…"

"Look, we'll talk more in the morning ok?"

"Promise?" Rei looked up at him hopefully.

Kai sighed. "I… will most definitely try to talk about this with you tomorrow."

He went to close the door again, but Rei stopped him again.

Kai looked over his shoulder and growled. "What now?"

"Don't definitely try to, promise it. Use the word promise and promise me!" demanded Rei.

Kai looked away and stared at the ground. "Promise is a big word Rei."

"I know that."

"Then understand me, and trust me, when I say that at the moment, I'll have extreme difficulty when it comes to keeping promises." And finally Kai shut the door.

Rei stood there confused. "What…?" Kai was the best for keeping promises, there had never been a time where he had broken one, or rejected one. He knew that the team would only force him to promise if it really meant something to them so why… why was he rejecting Rei's promise now, when he really needed to talk to Kai?

Rei couldn't help but feel hurt. He knew his captain was going through a hard time at the moment and that was why he was unable to promise but…

Rei sighed and finally pulled himself away from Kai's door.

He was about to enter his own room when he thought of something. Keys. Orfeo must have keys that he has to give to them. Rei grinned as he ran to Orfeo's room.

He knocked on the door and waited. When no one answered, he knocked again. Still no answer. Rei pressed his ear against the door and listened. He pulled away and frowned. Orfeo wasn't in his room. He must have gone somewhere. Damn.

Rei bit his lip as he walked back to his room. His face lit up as he got another idea. He opened his door and smiled.

* * *

Yue landed gently on the balcony and folded his wings behind him. He stepped up to the glass door and looked through it. When he saw that Kai was in the room and asleep, he stepped through the glass and walked over to the bed. He sat on the edge of the bed and leaned over Kai, a loose strand of his hair falling and tickling the Russian teens cheek.

Kai groaned and arched up, his face twisted in discomfort. Yue frowned. What was he dreaming about?

Yue narrowed his eyes and stood when he felt a dark presence nearing. He relaxed slightly when he saw the familiar dark flash and Donovan appeared.

"Oh look, we are starting a party!" he cheered as he clapped his hands together. He smirked when Yue rolled his eyes. "You know you could not live without me, literally."

"I am sure I could find away." Muttered Yue as he took a step back, closer to the balcony. "Why are you here? You harm him and –"

"You are not the only one allowed to check on him. And do not worry. I have had my fun. For tonight."

"Oh yes, me getting shot, Kai being called insane, Kai almost drowning and now Kai having a nightmare. You must have been enthralled." Yue retorted sarcastically.

"Drowning? Nightmare? I have had nothing to do with those."

Yue looked at him suspiciously but when he saw that Donovan wasn't lying, he bit his lip.

"Then…"

"Who?" finished Donovan as the two of them looked at Kai. He smiled cheekily and glanced at Yue. "You know… we could always find out what he is dreaming about…"

Yue frowned in confusion before he realised what Donovan meant. "Oh no, no way. I completely decline."

"Aw, come on!" Donovan dived and grabbed Yue's wrist before he could get away, and then Donovan leaned over and pressed the tips of his fingers to Kai's forehead.

"Donov-" in a flash they were gone.

**

* * *

Dream: Tyson**

_I looked around and tried to make sense of my surroundings. I'd seen Rei and Kai do that before so obviously it's the best thing to do… right. I can barely see a thing. Everything's dark but I can just make out what are walls, oh and there are some stairs. And there's a huge window… wow the sky looks creepy. It's like… yellowy grey… kinda… with like a bit of purple… and maybe some brown… ok yeah, it's too hard to describe. But the trees stand out against it. They're like pitch black._

_Ok… there's no noise, except for my breathing. And there's a dull light coming from my right and… more breathing?_

_I turned slowly. Well the light was coming from a telly. There was another window, and curtains, and a chair, and a couch. And there were things on the couch and… there's a person on the couch. Aw, crap._

_They opened their eyes. Hey I know those eyes! Kai!_

"_Kai?"_

_Recognition flickered in his eyes and he smiled at me. "Ty-son. How nice of you to come."_

_Ok the way he said my name was really creepy. "What are you doing here? Where are we?"_

_He smiled again. It was a creepy smile, not his normal smile. Yes I had seen the great Kai Hiwatari smile!_

_He looked away from me and looked at the telly. I looked too. There was a music video playing, over and over. But I couldn't here anything. The music video began again, but froze when it got to a certain spot. It was like a broken record, it kept playing that one part over and over._

"_Uh, Kai? Yeah I think your TV's broken dude."_

_Kai looked at me and put his finger to his lips. "…Shh…"_

_I raised an eyebrow and Kai smiled and turned back to the TV. Shh?_

"_Kai, seriously, you may wanna fix the telly."_

_He turned to me again and did the same thing as before. "…Shh…"_

_So I obeyed. But why was he saying shh? Slowly, music flowed through the room, but it wasn't coming from the telly._

I, sometimes wish that I could fly,  
Hold me tight in your arms tonight

_I recognised that song… um… um… great, another brain malfunction… um! Oh yeah, Step To Me by Thousand Foot Krutch._

_But… why was he watching that over and over. Just like the image on the telly, those two lines kept playing over and over._

"_Hey Kai? Where's that music coming from?"_

_He looked at me. "Music? There is no music."_

"_But-"_

_He raised his finger to his lips and smiled. "…Shh…"_

**

* * *

Dream: Max**

_I walked down the streets and looked around happily. It felt good to be back in New York. I stopped outside my favourite sweet store and grinned. I hurried in, happy when I heard the familiar ringing from the bell on the wall. I greeted the cashier and asked for one of the giant lollypops behind him. He handed it over and when I went to pay, he stopped me and shook his head smiling._

_Slowly I smiled and said thanks, before skipping out of the shop._

_I continued down the street, lollypop in hand. Oh balloons! I walked over to the clown selling them and fished through my pockets for some money. As I pulled out a few notes, some of my loose change fell out. I frowned and bent down to pick it up. I turned around to see if any had rolled behind me and froze. My lollypop fell from my hand as my grip went weak._

_Everything was black and white and frozen… but everything that had been in front of me was all fine. I looked down slowly as the black and white border caught up and ran over my lollypop turning that black and white. I turned as it went past me._

_It turned everything black and white and before I knew it, the whole street was black and white. I looked at my hands. I was still normal. Why?_

_I looked up again. Everything was frozen! Like someone had hit pause on an old black and white movie, except this wasn't a movie._

_I looked at my trembling hands and sniffled. I was so scared. What was going on? _

I, sometimes wish that I could fly,

Hold me tight in your arms tonight

_Where was that music coming from?_

_I stared in front of me, and took a few steps back when someone stepped out of the alleyway just in front of me. They were black and white as well, but there was no doubting facts. They were moving, everything about them was black and white, they were smiling the creepiest smile I'd ever seen but there was no doubting it. Those were crimson eyes._

_I let out a whimper. "Kai?"_

_He nodded and licked the lollypop he was holding._

"_What… what's going on?"_

_He shrugged. I walked over to him and he smiled that creepy smile again._

"_Poor, little Maxie. So afraid." He sung. He laughed eerily. "This is fun don't you think? Everything's frozen. Only you are normal. You're all colourful!" he chuckled again. "And you can move properly! You are the only one left."_

"_B-but! Kai! You're here too and!" I waved my arms around, trying to get my point across. He laughed that creepy laugh again._

"_No poor, little Maxie, you are alone! All alone, no one else. How does it feel? Hey?"_

"_S-stop it Kai… you're scaring me!"_

_He laughed again and put his finger to his lips, smiling his creepy smile. "…Shh…"_

**

* * *

Dream: Rei**

_I leaned back against the trunk and stared up at the sky. I liked sitting up high in the tall trees, it made me feel like I was closer to the clouds, like I could fly away on wings of the purest white. I smiled to myself. I sound like some love sick, or maybe love deprived, poet._

I, sometimes wish that I could fly,

Hold me tight in your arms tonight

_I looked around, confused. Where had that come from? I couldn't see anyone._

_I cried out when a figure appeared out of nowhere, crouching on the branch in front of me. They looked up and there was no mistaking those crimson orbs._

"_Oh Kai, you startled me!" I breathed as I put a hand over my racing heart._

_He said nothing, just stared. Slowly, he smiled. A damn creepy smile but a smile none-the-less._

_He put a finger to his lips. "…Shh…"_

"_Huh?" I cried out again as the world around me went all weird and suddenly became some random room. I landed with a thud on the black and white checkered floor and stared up at the ceiling, which matched the floor. The walls were pure white, no windows or doors. The only pieces of furniture in the room were a clear desk and two clear chairs._

_Kai's face filled my vision, and he stared again._

_He put his finger to his lips and smiled. "…Shh…"_

_I frowned. What was with the shh?_

_He leaned down and whispered in my ear. "Would you like to see my world? A bit of it? Well welcome. Because you have officially. _Arrived_." He chuckled. It was damn creepy too._

"_What do you mean Kai?"_

_He was quiet before finally replying. "…Shh…" his tongue flicked out and ran up my cheek. I shuddered under his touch._

"…_Shh…"_

"_K-Kai." I gulped._

"_Human contact is a wondrous thing… people can mistake the touch as an expression of love when really, it's a warning."_

_I took a deep breath. "A warning of what?"_

"_Death." He laughed again and pulled away so that I could see him properly._

_He put his finger to his lips and smiled. "…Shh…"_

_I sat up and mimicked his actions. "Shh?"_

_He nodded and did it again. "…Shh…"_

**

* * *

Dream: Kai**

_I knelt where I was, on the edge of the black cliff. Donovan hovered in front of me while Yue was out to my right, just watching._

"_Come on dear Kai, all of your worries will disappear, and you can welcome back that comforting darkness once more."_

_I heard Yue whimper, almost painfully._

"_And you need not worry about your so called friends. They have betrayed you just like I told you they would. So come, join me." Donovan held his hand out to me and smiled._

_I looked at him, and then to Yue. The silver haired man hovered where he was, his arms crossed and his fingers tapping against his upper arms in a manner that I had learnt to become a habit of his when something was wrong._

_A small part of my mind questioned that. How did I know that? I've only known him for a week, two weeks tops._

_I pushed the voice away and looked to Donovan again._

I, sometimes wish that I could fly,

Hold me tight in your arms tonight

_The words rang through the silence and I frowned. Feeling a large sudden weight on my back, I glanced behind me and gasped. Protruding from my shoulder blades were two large wings. I looked to Donovan, who smiled encouragingly and then my gaze shifted to Yue, who was pinching the bridge of his nose. He met my eyes and shrugged sadly. What the hell was going on?_

I, sometimes wish that I could fly,

Hold me tight in your arms tonight

_I spread my wings and was about to stand, ready to go over the edge, literally, and join Donovan. _

I, sometimes wish that I could fly,

_But two arms wrapped around me tightly, desperately, and stopped me. The force pushed me forward slightly and I looked forward in shock. Slowly I looked down and saw,_

"_Rei?"_

Hold me tight in your arms tonight

_I looked up and saw Donovan shake his head disappointedly, a small frown lining his brow. A sudden backwards pull of air picked up, so strong it almost pushed me back, and to my surprise, time began rewinding back, stopping when I spread my wings again. And the process from earlier was repeated._

I, sometimes wish that I could fly,

Hold me tight in your arms tonight

"_Max?"_

_And again._

I, sometimes wish that I could fly,

Hold me tight in your arms tonight

"_Tyson?"_

_And again._

I, sometimes wish that I could fly,

Hold me tight in your arms tonight

"_Bryan?"_

_And again._

I, sometimes wish that I could fly,

Hold me tight in your arms tonight

"_Tala?"_

_And again._

I, sometimes wish that I could fly,

Hold me tight in your arms tonight

"_Brooklyn?"_

_And again._

I, sometimes wish that I could fly,

Hold me tight in your arms tonight

_I felt more than one presence, and turned. I breathed in and released it as a surprised gasp._

_Appearing one by one, were my team. And then the Blitzkrieg Boys. And then Brooklyn and his team. Slowly, the number of people in front of me increased. When it finally stopped, I stood, the wings disappearing. Walking until I was directly in front of everyone, I turned to face Donovan. Yue was next to him this time and as they stood side by side, they smiled._

_In sync, they put their fingers to their lips. "…Shh…"_

* * *


	8. Too Easy

**_Too Easy_**

He picked up his phone and flipped it open as it vibrated against the wooden surface of the conference table. A new message from the red head. He opened it and his crimson eyes quickly scanned the message. There wasn't much to say.

**Gt hre now. Biovlt.**

He stared at the message then deleted it and flipped the phone shut. He threw it lightly on the table and it skidded slightly.

Someone walked in. "the Blitzkrieg Boys have yet to arrive. It is unlike them to be late." He smirked and stared at his phone. He wasn't going to help. Unless there was fun in store… nah.

A gunshot went off and most occupants of the room screamed.

Guns? They were usually fun to play with. He stood and walked out of the room calmly.

* * *

Walking into the reception area with his hands in his pockets, he smirked.

The red head was clutching his injured shoulder, blood spilling over his hand. The one with lilac eyes stood next to the red head, knife in one hand, and gun in the other.

Crimson eyes lit up at the sight of the gun, and not caring for the other two members, he walked over and snatched it from the one with lilac eyes.

Crimson eyes looked at the gun and lips turned upwards into a smirk.

Kai turned to face the centre of the room. Spencer and Ian were on the opposite side and in the middle were,

"Grandfather. Boris. How nice."

The two aging men looked at Kai.

Kai's eyes travelled to the guns in each of their hands and then to the gun in his own hand. Which one had shot Tala?

He raised his gun and pointed it at his grandfather. Should he kill him first… or Boris? His grandfather gave the orders and the pain. Boris obeyed the orders, which meant pain. So really, it was all his grandfathers fault. But Boris was stronger in combat wasn't he?

Kai would just have to take his chances. He fired two bullets quickly, one for Voltaire and one for Boris.

The two men hit the floor, blood gushing out of their fatal wounds.

Kai raised an eyebrow. That was easy, it was all too easy. He walked casually to Voltaire's body and tapped the leg with his foot.

Kai looked at the gun in his hand and smirked. He raised it and pointed it at one of the terrified ladies sitting behind the reception desk. She shrieked and hid under the desk. He smiled his creepy smile.

He swivelled around and pointed it at Orfeo, then Lucian. Then Spencer, Ian, Bryan, Tala and any other person in the room.

Spotting the gun in Boris's cold dead hand, Kai picked it up. He pointed one gun at a chosen target and pressed the other to his temple. He would have to make the right decision.

He swivelled around, pointing the gun at each person again, his movements fast and almost desperate.

Their voices rang in his head as he shot BioVolt soldier after BioVolt guard. Too easy. They hadn't attacked. Too easy. Their loss.

He pointed the gun at everyone again. Who else would be easy? He smiled his creepy smile again and stopped at Tala. He was already injured, so he'd be the easy one to get rid of.

Kai pouted. Bryan has stepped in front of Tala. Oh well, kill him to kill Tala. Kai shot but both Bryan and Tala ducked, much to Kai's disappointment.

Kai tried shooting at Orfeo, but Lucian wrenched him out of the way. The bullet smashed into the wall again.

So Kai fired at the BBA employees, killing all of them. _Now,_ he would try the others.

He smiled creepily and aimed at Ian.

Tala stepped forward and Kai spun back around and pointed the gun at Tala who stopped and stood straight.

Anyone who moved or made a sound had the gun pointed at them. But Kai was quickly growing tired of this game. With a bored yawn, he dropped the guns on the floor and walked over to the elevator, leaving behind some very confused people and a whole lot of dead people. Fun… Kai smirked. Too easy.

* * *

Kai walked into the conference room, ready for the meeting.

"Geez Kai, take your time." Kai glared at Tyson but his eyes quickly travelled to where the Blitzkrieg Boys were sitting.

Kai's brow wrinkled in confusion.

"What Kai?" asked Bryan.

Kai didn't say anything. He walked over to Tala and Tala swivelled the chair to face Kai. Kai squatted down in front of him and pressed a hand against Tala's should-be injured shoulder. He applied pressure but got no reaction out of Tala. Standing up, he took the zipper of Tala's jacket and slowly began to pull it down.

Tala sat there breathing steadily, icy blue eyes following Kai's movements curiously. Normally, he would have stopped Kai but the look on the younger teen's face stopped him.

Having the jacket open, Kai slowly pushed it off of Tala's shoulders.

Tala's hands flew up to cover his now exposed neck, thankful that his t-shirt was covering the scars on his chest and back. The ones on his arms he could just use the excuse of beyblading matches for.

Ignoring Tala's reaction, Kai ran his hand over Tala's shoulder slowly, causing the older teen to shiver under his touch. Kai then prodded the shoulder, hard. Nothing. There was no blood, no pain, no wound.

Kai pulled away and Tala quickly pulled his jacket back on, praying no one had seen his neck.

"Care to explain Hiwatari?" Tala swivelled the chair around again so that he was leaning his elbows against the table, his back to Kai. Using his foot, Tala pulled a chair over for Kai and motioned for him to sit.

Kai sat down and twirled a lock of hair around his finger as he thought.

He pretended to use his fingers as the guns. He pointed them at each person and acted out the scene that had happened earlier.

He finished on Tala, breathing hard.

"How did you heal so fast? It was a gunshot… made by Boris and Voltaire… and they're both dead…" Kai put his head in his hands and thought hard.

The door opened and one of the girls from down in the reception section stepped into the room. She told them that Mr Dickinson would be there shortly and she was just about to leave when she met Kai's glare.

"I-is there a problem sir?" the young girl twisted her hands anxiously.

"You're supposed to be dead. I killed you." Kai lifted his hands into a gun shape again. "Bang." He jerked his hands back. "You're dead. So quickly, too easy."

"Oh you're all here! Good." Mr Dickinson entered the room smiling brightly. "Oh thank you Risa, you may go now."

"Thank you sir." Risa left hurriedly, not daring to look back at Kai.

* * *

Kai stared up at the ceiling and sighed. School? It was Beyblading School? That was why they were here?

'First we need to test everyone on physical, emotional, mental and academical levels. Then, we'll sort you into classes and we will try out the new BBA School. We won't be testing you on your beyblading skills just yet.'

Lucian's words rang through his head as he rolled over. They were basically guinea pigs for the BBA. Not fun.

Kai shivered despite himself and curled up. The argument he had with Tyson earlier was ringing in his head. Then Michael had joined in and then the All Starz and oh it'd been chaos. The insults and names were repeating themselves over and over in Kai's head, micking him. Kai tried to fight them off. '_No, no, no, no. You don't really know who I am.'_

Kai clenched his fists and looked down at his wrists. They were stained with blood. The blood had run in little rivulets down his hands and fingers as well. Kai's eyes travelled to the pocketknife sitting on the bedside table and Kai smirked. '_I'm driving away from you.' _He sat up and looked at the desk. The paper positioned itself and the pen stood up and began to write.

Kai walked over and read the words that had already been written as the pen worked. He smirked again. Perfect.

* * *

"Yes Tyson!" yelled Hilary as she dragged him along behind her.

"But Hilary he started it!"

"Well you should have finished it!"

"I did! You saw the way he walked off! I won!"

"You won?! Tyson it was like 6 against one! And he held his own pretty well! The insults he dealt out were harsh!"

"Yeah but mine were better!"

"No, they were worse! And only because you had the help of the others. If you didn't then you would have had better ones."

"Huh?"

"Whatever! But you are apologising! You almost broke him down!"

"Yeah I know! How good am I!"

"Tyson! The names that you call him on a daily basis do hurt him you know! He is human!"

"Like anyone would know it!"

"Do you think either one of them will get their point across?" whispered Max.

"Nuh." Replied Kenny, Rei and Diachi.

The 'Breakers stopped in front of Kai's room, Tyson and Hilary still arguing.

Tala and Bryan were already there. They were just about to knock when they head the loud noise that was Hilary and Tyson.

"Ignore them." Muttered Bryan.

Tala opened the door and froze. His hand slipped from the door handle and he stepped in.

Bryan followed and the Bladebreakers went in last.

"What the…"

"Fuck?" Bryan finished for Tala.

Kai turned around and faced them. He grinned and kept jumping on the bed. He spun around and around and laughed childishly, dancing to the song only he could hear. But it wasn't their captain's actions that shocked the 'Breakers, it was the walls.

The walls were covered in writing and drawings, all of them red. They all led to one wall, all the pictures and words coming in together to surround a red body.

Rei looked up at the ceiling, which had also been painted on. Two large wings were spread out, chains around them and in the centre of the picture was the word death.

Tyson looked around slowly, wincing when he saw the names and insults from earlier scrawled across some of the walls. He stopped and stared at one wall. Curious, he walked over.

You never call me by name  
Think you want me to change  
Think you know me  
But you don't know really know what I mean  
You say I take it too deep  
You think you know me  
But you don't really know who I am

Under the first line was every name that Tyson had come up for Kai.

Tala growled and glared furiously at Tyson, who flinched. Storming over to the bouncing teen, Tala grabbed Kai by the arm and dragged him from the bed, not failing to notice the cuts covering Kai's wrists.

"Take photos and then show Michael." Growled Tala as he walked past Bryan.

Tala slammed Kai up against the wall.

"What the fuck was that Hiwatari?" Tala glared at Kai.

Kai grinned. "Did you like it? Did you read it all?"

Yes, Tala had read it all, and no he did not like it.

All alone is the dark  
Now that our walk in the park  
Has headed suddenly off a cliff

What was Kai talking about? Tala unzipped his jacket and ripped his white t-shirt.

It's like you're dragging me down  
Our trust's six feet underground  
And now I'm finding it hard to breathe

What trust? And with who? Using the strips as makeshift bandages, he began with Kai's right arm.

Our days have turned into mud (don't know don't think you know me)  
And now I know that I'm done

Done with _what?_

You never call me by name  
Think you want me to change  
Think you know me  
But you don't really know what I mean  
You say I take it too deep  
You think you know me  
But you don't really know who I am

The Blitzkrieg Boys knew Kai like the back of their hand, so was Kai talking about the Bladebreakers? Tala scowled and leant heavily against Kai with his shoulder when Kai tried to pull away.

Now I'm seein the light  
Paid the toll of our fights  
I'm driving away from you  
I won't get stuck in the past  
How could you think this would last  
You're just a bump in the road for me

It'd have to be the Bladebreakers. They were always fighting and Kai had always said they were weaklings and just another obstacle blocking him from his goal. Tala was going to kill Tyson and the All Starz. Painfully and slowly. Tala wrapped up the left wrist.

Our days have turned into mud (don't know don't think you know me)  
And now I know that I'm done

You never call me by name  
Think you want me to change  
Think you know me  
But you don't know really know what I mean  
You say I take it too deep  
You think you know me  
But you don't really know who I am

You never call me by name  
Think you want me to change  
Think you know me  
But you don't know really know what I mean  
You say I take it too deep  
You think you know me  
But you don't really know who I am

Tala growled low in his throat and tightened the knots on the makeshift bandages. He pulled off Kai but kept him pressed against the wall.

"Answer me Kai, what is going on?"

Kai smiled and put a finger to his lips. "…Shh…"

Tala stiffened. His dream last night… that's exactly what Kai had done. Tala growled again. He wanted to pull away, comfort Kai and punch him all at the same time.

Deciding that the last option was the best, Tala punched him. Hard.

Kai's head flung back and hit the wall. He shook his head and looked at Tala blankly, though he couldn't stop the small bit of alarm that crawled through. He could feel Tala's hands shaking where they held their grip on Kai's shoulders.

Tala tried to stop shaking, but he couldn't. What the hell was happening to Kai? The 'shh', the dream, the walls, the cuts, this morning. Tala wanted to scream.

Tala stopped shaking and Kai watched him warily. Tala stepped forward and his hands slipped from Kai's shoulders to around his neck, holding him close. Kai stiffened but slowly returned the embrace, holding the frightened puppy tightly and drawing him closer to his body.

Tala leaned his head against Kai's shoulder and curled his fingers in Kai's scarf. This wasn't supposed to be happening. Kai wasn't supposed to be the one who would break. He was the strongest. He was unbreakable. This couldn't be happening.

* * *

Kai spun around and around, making himself dizzy and ignoring the strange looks he was receiving.

Orfeo stepped into the room and placed a hand on Kai's head to stop him from spinning. Kai stumbled as the world spun and he promptly sat. He flopped onto his back and stared up at the ceiling.

"How boring." He mumbled. He raised a hand and traced a pair of wings surrounded in chains with the word death in the centre of it all.

Lucian was already there, leaning against the window, his head tilted back so he could look outside. He pushed himself off and joined Orfeo.

"Right. May I please have everyone's attention."

Slowly, the noise in the room quietened and all eyes were on the two BBA members.

"We begin the first physical test today. We will start with flexibility." Lucian sighed mentally. He really did not want to do this. He was flexible, as was Orfeo but… ugh.

"Flexibility? How are we supposed to demonstrate that?"

Lucian and Orfeo sighed at Diachi. Wasn't it obvious?

Sighing again, the two of them slid into position, well aware of the people gawking at them.

Lucian slid into the splits and lifted his back leg up and held it over his shoulder.

Orfeo fell into a backwards arch and then slid through his legs until his feet were on either side of his head.

"Ok then… oww." Commented Diachi.

One by one, each blader was called up and told to demonstrate his or her flexibility.

The White Tigers found the exercise pretty easy, as did Rei.

The Blitzkrieg Boys and Kai stepped up together. In perfect sync, they slid into their positions.

They each lifted their right leg and held it up. Bending it at the knee, they crossed it behind their head until it was resting against the opposite shoulder.

Kai smirked and pulled his leg down. _Too easy._

* * *

"Sir? The results of the first exam have come through."

Lucian looked over curiously. "Oh?"

"It was the first academic test."

Orfeo walked over and sat on the desk next to Lucian. "And?"

"The results obtained were expected."

"And the Russians?"

"100 percent."

"Time?"

"… Scarily enough, 10 minutes."

Orfeo grinned and swung his legs back and forth. Lucian nodded and turned back to his computer. 10 minutes out of the 2 hours given. 100 percent. Nice.

* * *

Kai ran his eyes quickly over the paper then chucked it carelessly to the side. 100 percent. Too easy.

He looked over to his team. Rei seemed to have done fairly well, Max too. Diachi and Tyson were lucky it was impossible to fail the test and Kenny…

"94 percent?!" he screeched as the paper was handed to him. "b-but! That impossible." He quickly asked Hilary how much she had gotten and she had ended up with a similar score to Rei.

Kenny proceeded to ask the rest of the Breakers before coming to Kai.

"Kai! What did you score on the test?"

Kai opened his crimson eyes lazily. He picked his paper up and held it up to Kenny's face.

Kenny's jaw dropped. "100 percent?! In ten minutes?!"

"I told you not to ask him!" came Dizzi's voice from across the room.

Kai tilted his head to the side and smirked. _Too easy._

* * *

The five Russians dropped into their fighting stances.

"begin." Came Orfeo's voice through the speakers.

Kai smiled and pulled out of his stance. Looking up to his right, he stared at the windows. Through them he could see Lucian, Orfeo and other BBA officials.

"put the cd in!" called Kai.

Lucian opened one of the windows and leaned out of it. He held up a cd. "this one?"

"yeah! I want them to hear it!" Kai clapped his hands happily and Lucian closed the window.

Kai slipped into his stance again.

Tala was about to lunge forward but his step faltered when he heard the music come on. The words were the ones Kai had written all over the walls. That's what he meant by 'I want them to hear it.'

Shaking his head, Tala lunged again.

Kai saw him and Bryan coming. He smirked, waved and then took a step to the side, twisting on his heel.

He appeared behind the two and threw both of his fists out. _Too easy._

Both Tala and Bryan caught one of the oncoming fists and used the momentum to toss Kai over their shoulders.

But Kai was more than ready. He yanked his wrists free when he was in the air and flipped. He landed smoothly next to Spencer and quickly ducked to dodge the punch aimed at his head. _Too easy._

And so, the combat examination began.

* * *

"whoa!" exclaimed Tyson, forehead pressed up against the glass. He and the other bladers were in a room opposite where Lucian and Orfeo were. They were looking down on the Russians as they fought.

"they have a lot of raw power." Commented Robert. He crossed his arms and followed every movement.

"yeah…" Michael moved his hand to touch the bruise forming on his jaw from when Bryan had punched him earlier that day.

* * *

Bryan raised his hands, blocking each punch Kai delivered. He managed to catch Kai's wrists and quickly raised his knee and crossed it across his body to block the kick Kai aimed at him.

Tala flipped over Spencer and came down, leg out, ready to kick Ian. Ian grabbed Tala by the ankle and twisted his leg, flipping the redhead over. Tala caught himself on his hands, ankle still trapped in Ian's grip. Bending his knee on his free leg, Tala brought it around. The kick contacted with Ian's stomach and Ian let go of Tala's ankle with a grunt.

Planting his foot heavily on Kai's chest, Bryan shoved Kai off of him and into Spencer.

Kai dug his elbow backwards and into Spencer's stomach.

* * *

Kai gave a self-satisfied smirk as he watched Bryan's form crumple in front of him, hitting the floor hard. His head fell onto Tala's rapidly moving chest.

Kai squatted down next to them and searched through their pockets. One of them had to have a gun. He stood and was about to walk over to Spencer when he remembered that Ian's favourite weapon was a gun.

The first pocket he searched, and Kai already found a gun. He checked that it was loaded and shook his arms, loosening the muscles. He pointed the gun at Ian, aiming at his chest. He cocked his head to the side; his cheek resting on his slightly raised shoulder, and closed one eye. _Too easy. All too easy._

* * *

"Kai! Kai stop!" screamed Max. He banged his hands against the glass repeatedly, trying to get Kai's attention. And he did. Kai raised his head and lowered the gun then looked at Max.

Max gave a sigh of relief. 'No!' he mouthed to Kai.

Kai smiled and nodded. Max took it as a sign that Kai understood.

He froze, however, when the gun was pointed up at him.

* * *

Kai licked his lips. The bullet should be able to get through the glass. And he should get perfect aim, even if the room was so high up. _Too easy._

* * *

Orfeo slammed his hands on the desk. "What is he doing?!"

Lucian said something to one of the officials then turned to Orfeo. "Come on." He threw one of the windows open and jumped out of it, Orfeo following.

They landed swiftly.

"Kai. Put the gun down. It's ok. Kai." Lucian took a hesitant step forward, hands held out to show he meant no harm.

Orfeo was slowly creeping to the door so that Kai wouldn't be able to escape.

"Kai…" Lucian bit his lip and took another step forward, forcing himself not to look at Orfeo.

Kai faced Lucian and aimed the gun at him. Frowning, he glanced to the side, deep in thought. This seemed so much like it had happened before.

Seeing that Kai wasn't paying any attention, Lucian seized the opportunity and lunged forwards. But Kai saw him.

Kai dropped the gun and sprinted for the door, Lucian chasing him.

Kai skidded to a halt when he saw Orfeo blocking his way out.

* * *

"What's going on?" Kevin asked as he pressed his nose up against the glass. The exit was around a corner that was out of view.

"I don't know," mumbled Rei.

"Look!" exclaimed Mariah, latching herself onto Rei's arm and pointing.

Rei watched in shock as a pale hand appeared from around the corner. Lucian's white hair was splayed against his face, his front bangs dipped in blood as he laid there, only his head to shoulders in view.

Orfeo slammed into the opposite wall, just in line of the other bladers' vision, and slumped to the floor. His black hair covered the majority of his face but not the line of blood spilling from his split lip.

* * *

Kai pulled at the doors, trying to get them open. He growled. Orfeo must have locked them or something. He was about to try kicking the door when it suddenly opened and a heap of guards charged into the room, a group of medics following.

The other bladers watched silently as Kai fought off the guards who were trying to pin him down. One guard, two guards. The number increased.

But too many of them were coming at once. And Kai couldn't fight them all off.

Johnny blinked as the Bladebreakers whizzed past him and out of the room. He could hear their hurried footsteps as they rushed down the stairs.

He turned his eyes back to what was happening in the room below.

Three guards forced a struggling Kai to the ground, the gun laying a few feet away.

Kai managed to get a hand free and he stretched for the gun, managing to get his fingers around it. A boot came down and stepped on his wrist. Not hard enough to break anything but enough to get him to let go.

Johnny clicked his tongue in amusement. Hah, Hiwatari was insane.

* * *

Kai began screaming obscenities as they pinned his hands behind his back, someone leaning heavily on his back.

Medics worked calmly on the ones Kai had managed to bring down.

Gently, two medics lifted Bryan off of Tala; another two rushing forward to make sure Tala was ok.

Orfeo and Lucian were moved to the middle of the room, where the Blitzkrieg Boys were, and laid down.

Kai smiled manically and began to laugh. He threw his head back and laughed harder.

The doors burst open and the Bladebreakers ran in.

Kai pulled his hand free again. He looked up at his team and his smile grew. He brought a finger to his lips. "…Shh…"

One of the guards grabbed Kai's arm and pinned it down again. Kai tried to pull free again, snapping at any hands that came near. He didn't see the hand that came from behind and pushed his head to the ground roughly. Kai attempted to turn his head but whoever was holding it was holding it tight.

Kai frowned when he felt movement above him and for a split second; there was no pressure and no one holding him down. Kai tried to dart forwards but he didn't get very far. Kai growled as he was pinned down again, though he was able to move his head.

"Kai just lay still or you'll make it worse for yourself."

Kai smirked. So that was who had stopped him the second time, Rei.

He turned his head to the side, and Rei, thinking that he wanted to say something, leaned down.

Kai drew a breath. "Rei…" he spat in Rei's face. "Fuck off!" Kai looked the other way and Rei pulled up.

Kai closed his eyes and relaxed. _Too easy._

* * *

Orfeo read the results over Lucian's shoulder. He leant against his broken wrist, not really caring for it.

Lucian tucked his hair behind his ear and passed the results to Orfeo. "Read them out." He mumbled. He swivelled to face his computer.

So Orfeo began.

* * *

"…Tala Ivanov. Emotional: 89 percent. Mental: 86 percent."

"Kai Hiwatari. Emotional: 92 percent. Mental…"

"Yes? Mental?" Lucian prompted.

"Mental…" Orfeo frowned and walked over to Lucian to show him.

Glancing at the papers that had been shoved in front of him, Lucian's eyes grew wide and he snatched the papers from Orfeo's hand.

"Kai Hiwatari… Emotional, 92… Mental… 67 percent?!" Lucian slammed the papers on his desk and rubbed a hand over his face.

"It was only the second test."

"They only take three tests Orfeo."

"Well, he has been seeing a lot of it lately…"

Lucian blinked. "True… very true."

* * *

Kai licked his lips and took a drink from his water bottle. His crimson eyes travelled down as the BBA official next to him murmured and then wrote something down.

Kai saw Michael stop and smirked. So the big bad American wasn't so great. Heck, Tyson, Max and Diachi were still running.

Kai scowled. About time those three brats were grateful.

He tugged at one of the wires attached to his temples, desperately wanting to pull the devices off.

Treadmills were placed in rows. Every blader was running at the same speed and had two BBA officials next to them, recording their stats. The exercise was to test stamina and endurance. So far, only a few bladers had had to stop running.

Kai kept running, his mind drifting off.

"Mr Hiwatari? Mr Hiwatari. You can stop now."

"Kai!"

Kai shook his head and glanced to his left. Tala was there.

"What?"

"You can stop. We're finished."

Kai shook his head again. He didn't want to stop running. He wanted to keep running, just keep going.

He ripped the wires from his skin and changed his speed.

He would keep going until his body gave up and he burned up all his energy. _Too easy._

* * *

"Lucian!"

Lucian turned and raised an eyebrow when he saw Orfeo running to him, waving around the papers he held.

Orfeo skidded to a halt. "The final results have come in."

Lucian raised both his eyebrows then snatched the papers from Orfeo.

He quickly scanned the papers, letting out an 'uh huh!' when he found the one he was looking for.

"Kai Hiwatari. Academical: 100 percent. Physical: 100 percent."

Orfeo subconsciously rubbed his still healing wrist.

"Emotional: 94 percent. Mental… 5…3… percent…"

"What?!" Orfeo snatched the papers from Lucian's limp hand and looked for himself. There it was, mental: 53 percent.

* * *

"Oi Ian! Hurry up!" yelled Bryan.

Spencer sighed and leaned against the wall. His gaze travelled from where Bryan was in the doorframe to where his captain was in the middle of the hallway deep in thought.

Icy blue eyes were hazy, his red hair was down and slightly dishevelled. His face was pale and thin and small bags were under his eyes. Tala looked a mess.

"Ok let's go!" Ian chirped happily as he ran out the room and into the hallway.

Bryan growled low in his throat and closed the door.

"Hurry up Bryan!"

Spencer grabbed Bryan before he could kill Ian. Anyone could easily see the bloodlust in the lilac eyes.

Tala started walking mechanically, his feet taking him somewhere without his brain processing what was going on.

The team soon arrived at their acquired destination.

Outside the door of the virtual room stood the White Tigers, All Stars and the Bladebreakers.

Tala searched the Bladebreakers hopefully before letting out a disappointed sigh. Kai wasn't there. Yet. Maybe he was in the virtual room already.

Running a hand through his hair in hopes of fixing it up slightly, and making sure his eyes and expression were cold and hard, Tala pushed through the crowd to the door.

Placing a shaking hand on the handle, he pushed it open and walked into the room hesitantly.

Nothing. There was nothing there. It was pitch black.

Tala let his eyes adjust then took a few more steps forward.

He shivered when Bryan placed a hand on his shoulder.

Turning to face the Falcon, he followed the gaze of the lilac eyes as they darted around. Finally, they settled on something.

Tala stared in the same direction as Bryan and squinted slightly. He was so tired, and his eyes just wanted to close and never open, but he had to stay awake.

There, in the shadows. A figure.

He heard the footsteps of the other teams as they came up behind his team. He heard their voices. He heard the door shut. He heard the machines come to life. And he heard… that laugh… the one he hadn't heard since he was six.

Tala froze as he felt a hot breath against the shell of his ear.

"Tala. You came. Good."

The breath disappeared and the lights flicked on.

Standing in the centre of the room on a raised platform was Kai.

In front of him spun Dranzer.

At the moment, the room was a fluoro green colour but when Kai clapped his hands twice, it changed.

Platforms of different heights began to rise while some sections of the floor sunk. The floor turned black and from Kai's feet, fluoro green lines began running along the floor making geometric patterns.

The lines ran up the now black walls and met just above Kai's head on the ceiling. The walls of the platforms were fluoro green and the platform Kai was standing on rose. Three doors appeared on one of the walls of the platform Kai was on.

The bladers were silent.

"…Interesting…" Ian nodded slowly as he looked around the room with raised eyebrows.

Bryan hit him on the head.

Kai smirked and jumped down off the platform, which just so happened to be the highest in the room.

He landed smoothly and Dranzer landed next to him.

Kai walked forwards and held his arms out. "Welcome! I thought you'd all like to see part of my world so, welcome. You have officially. _Arrived._"

Rei froze. Wasn't that…?

Kai's gaze fell on Rei and he smirked. "Relax kitty cat. We're only going to have a little chitchat. Calm down wildcat. Now what can I rhyme with that? I'm all out, drat." Kai grinned. "Aren't I good?"

Tala frowned; he knew he had heard that little poem before, when he was younger.

Kai's voice suddenly became very deep. "Game. Over. There are no rules in this game except… win. At any cost."

"Fine, if it's a game you want." Michael loaded his launcher and stood ready.

To the bladers surprise, Kai started laughing, hard. "You think I meant a beybattle? Oh no. No, no, no! Dranzer isn't there to battle."

"Then what's she there for? For show?" Michael asked sarcastically as he pulled out of his stance. "There are soooo many people who would come to see that."

If Kai recognised the insult, he ignored it. "Oh no Dranzer's not for show. She's a timer."

"A timer for what?" asked Kevin, his one visible eye narrowed in suspicion.

"You'll see."

"No tell us n-"

"…Shh…" hissed Kai. He put his finger to his lips and turned his head to the side, listening intently.

"Kai there's no noise." Said Tyson.

Kai looked at Tyson out of the corner of his eye and smiled. Slowly, he turned his head to face the bladers. "Oh how wrong you are…"

Kai looked at them, his head cocked to one side. "Anyway, good luck."

Stamping his foot once, Kai smirked. Fluoro green walls came up quickly and Mariah's shriek could have been heard from a mile away.

The teams had been split into three groups.

In the first group, Tala was immediately alert, running his hand along the smooth wall separating him and his group from the others.

Mariah clung onto Rei's arm as he and Michael watched Tala. Max's eyes darted around as he chewed his lip nervously. Gary stood there grumbling something about food.

* * *

Bryan looked at his group and yawned.

_Kevin, Ian, Diachi, and Kenny… what's with all the small people?_ Bryan shook his head.

* * *

Spencer stood there calmly. Hilary was in the middle of telling Tyson to shut up. Eddy was throwing a ball up and down nervously and Emily was quietly calculating and figuring things out. Lee put his hand into his pocket and dragged his fingers gently along Galeon's rugged edges.

* * *

In each little corridor, a screen showed up on the wall so that each group could see each other.

Before they could say anything to one another, Kai's face showed up.

"I hope you are all happy with the arrangements." He looked down and smiled. "Oh and Bryan, try not to kill them too much."

Kai's face disappeared and a picture of Dranzer showed up, still spinning.

"Game. Over. There are no rules except…win. At any cost."

* * *

"Well now what?" asked Ian. He looked up at Bryan.

"What else?" replied Bryan as he began walking. "We walk and hope to find an exit."

* * *

"Any ideas Tal?" asked Michael, almost mockingly.

Tala glared at him. "If you wish to make it out of here American, I suggest you hold your tongue."

Tala faced the rest of his group. "Mariah get the fuck off of Rei and listen. Remember those doors we saw?"

"The ones we came in through?" asked Gary slowly.

Tala's eyebrow twitched. Slow and dumb. Great. "Noooooo the other ones, the ones that appeared in front of us. Knowing Kai, this is all one big game and this is the beginning, and it's most likely a maze. We need to get to whichever door this corridor gets to."

"Right." Agreed Max and Rei.

Mariah and Michael, not too happy about the way that Tala was suddenly in control, nodded grudgingly.

Gary looked confused. "You mean the doors we came through?"

* * *

"I guess we walk." Mumbled Spencer as he started down the corridor.

Hilary, Emily and Lee followed, no questions asked. Tyson and Eddy, once realising that their objections were just going ignored, quickly ran to catch up.

* * *

"This will be fun, don't you think?" asked Kai. He leaned forward in his chair and placed his elbows on his knees and rested his chin in his hands.

Donovan nodded eagerly and sat down cross-legged next to Kai.

Yue looked away.

Kai glanced at the silver angel and smirked. He looked back at the screen. "You worry too much Yu'. It's just a game." Kai sat back. "One big game…" _Too easy._

* * *

_too tired to explain and stuff must sleep look for explanation next chappie_

_sorry so long to update thank u reviewers will reply tomoz_

_kavbj_


	9. Important

**Ok, hi! Now I must say I apologise for the confusing authors note in the last chappie.**

**Now I have two very important questions… maybe one depending how you look at it:**

**Yaoi? Is there any one of my readers who doesn't like it? Let me know if you don't. I wasn't originally going to put it in but then I thought of doing so and… I didn't know who liked it or who wanted it in the story. It wouldn't become a big romance fic suddenly though. There probably wont be very much romance at all.**

**If the yaoi gets a yes then… pairings?**

**Sorry but either way, Kai is probably going to be paired with Tala, cos for this story, it's the best way to go. But I'm open for anything else!**

**Now with the whole 'mental-kai' thing… yeah I know its kinda confusing at the moment, but it should start to make sense soon. One of my reviewers pointed out to me (and I thank them) that 53 isn't very low. I thought it would be, well actually, I didn't know what would be low but I'm like, if you only have half ur mental state, peeps would probably worry. Either way, it's going to get lower (the percentage I mean.)**

**Right after boring you to death, I am veeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeery sorry to say, the next chapter isn't ready BUT! I have a few little… preview thingies, of ideas I had for the story.**

**Bye!**

**Kavbj**

_**Number 1: preview thingy for next chapter**_

"Dranzer, I promised you that there would be no beybattle and therefore there would be no orders, you were only supposed to be a timer." Kai's voice was flat. He peered up through his bangs. 

"I'm sorry to break that promise, but here is your sole order, you are to hurt them," Dranzer spun faster. "you are to destroy their beyblades," Dranzer began hitting her master's feet.

Tala growled and pulled out Wolborg, launching it at Kai.

"and finally Dranzer," he tilted his head to the side, dodging Wolborg.

He looked up. "you are to kill them"

He turned around and looked over his shoulder at the bladers, smirking. He stamped his foot once and the floor disappeared from underneath him. Kai fell through and the opening closed after him.

_**Number 2: preview thingy for next chapter (might I add that these aren't in order)**_

Kai stood on top of the round pillar, smiling down at them.

"Ttfn!" he called. The top of the pillar slid open and Kai let himself fall through, looking down into the dark space below and grinning.

"Oi!" yelled Michael. He sprinted to the pillar but it had already closed before he could get there. He cursed loudly then turned to Tala. "Now what?"

"We listen and stand ready." Tala replied quietly, ears alert.

_Why has the sky turned grey?_

Hearing a whooshing sound coming up behind them, the group quickly turned and ducked as large green cubes came flying at them.

The group watched warily as the cubes formed a giant cube. The face of the cube that was facing the group turned black before an image came on the screen.

Kai was standing shirtless, arms out to the side. Grey crept in from the corners, and everything it touched turned black and white.

Max whimpered. It was just like his dream, except it was happening on a giant television.

The grey finally reach Kai's staring eyes but instead of changing their colour completely, it just tinted them so that the usual crimson was an amethyst colour.

_Hard to my face_

A large gash appeared on Kai's cheek, blood running down his jaw. His eyes hardened.

_Cold on my shoulder_

Hands came out of nowhere and forcefully turned Kai around, pushing him against the brick wall. Two panels slid open on the wall, one above each of Kai's shoulders. Large thick metal bands emerged, wrapping around Kai's shoulders, disappearing into two new panels that had opened underneath Kai's arms and binding Kai to the wall.

_And why has my life gone astray_

Kai bowed his head and leant his forehead against the brick wall.

_Scarred by disgrace, I know that it's over_

Scar after scar appeared on Kai's bare, pale back, describing a story of torture still untold.

_Howl at the wind rushing past my lonely head_

_Caught in its own motion_

Kai's form shivered as a cool wind blew through the cell he was in, playing with his bangs.

_How I wish it was somebody else instead  
Howling at all this corrosion _

Why did the luck run dry  
Laugh in my face, so pleased to desert me

The metal bindings released Kai in the same way that they had held him. Kai turned and leaned against the wall, breathing hard, before he slid to the ground, slumped against the cool bricks._  
_

_Why do the cruel barbs fly?  
Now when disgrace can no longer hurt me_

Drip by drip, tears ran down Kai's cheeks. They left streaks as they rolled down the dirt covered skin.

"What… was that?" Mariah asked slowly.

Tala didn't answer, instead he listened to the words of the song, hoping for a clue.

_Because I'm falling down  
With people standing round  
But before I hit the ground  
Is there time  
Could I find someone out there to help me?_

_Because I'm falling down_

Tala frowned. Falling down seemed to be the only clue he could get that made some sort of sense.

And he was right. Slowly, tile after tile began to drop away, falling into black nothingness. The process sped up.

"We need to get out of here!" yelled Rei.

No one needed to be told twice.

The group set off following Tala.

"Tala!" cried Rei as the red head suddenly disappeared.

Tala cursed as the tiles underneath his feet fell out from under him. Bracing him for a fast fall with a painful landing, Tala blinked in surprise when he felt himself falling rather slowly.

He heard Rei call out. 

It was Rei's turn to curse as the tiles underneath him disappeared. He fell down with a cry and let out a startled mew as he felt a tight grip on his arm.

He and Tala looked up.

"Bryan!"

"How did you get yourself into deep shit this time Tala?" the falcon asked in a strained voice as he held onto Tala and Rei.

Tala shook his head and reached one hand up. "You know how I do."

"Unfortuantely, yes." Bryan slid one foot back so that Tala good grab ahold of the edge.

"Ok Bry, you can let go now."

"What? No! Tala don't! Bryan don't let him go!" cried Rei. He panicked and tried to grab at Tala.

Bryan released Tala and Rei screamed, thinking the Russian would fall. Now being able to grab Rei with both hands, Bryan hauled the neko-jin up.

"You idiot!" screamed Rei, ignoring Mariah as she hugged him and ignoring the others as they asked if he was ok. He punched Bryan's shoulder.

"God you're as hormonal as a female." Grumbled Bryan. He rubbed his shoulder.

"Ian, I see your group caught up with us."

Rei turned and looked at Tala with relief. "You're ok."

"_Ian's _group? Hello, what makes you think the shrimp's in charge?" demanded Bryan as he stood and stretched.

"Because you're usually to lazy to get up off your damn ass." Tala explained dryly. "Alright, two groups together, now we only need to find the third."

"We could have a problem with that…" Kevin trailed off.

"Why…oh."

The two groups looked around them. Well they were in deep shit now. 

Kai, wanting to have some fun, had let the tiles fall away so that the bladers were stuck on a piece of floor in the middle of nowhere.

Problem two would be that the tiles left, were set up like a chess board, and the pawns were at least 2 to 3 times bigger than Gary.

_**Number Three: uh… not next chappie.**_

"Who'd you have doing the choreography?" asked Tyson.

"Mm!" Hilary swallowed her drink. "Miss Aishling taught us. She's really pretty and she's one of the new teachers working here. Though she doesn't officially start until sometime this week. Apparently she's good friends with Lucian and Orfeo. She said she's known them since she can remember."

Tala listened with one eye cracked open. His vision flicked over to Bryan who had his head buried in his arms. Tala kicked him in the shin under the table, smirking as Bryan mumbled in Russian and tried to kick back, but Tala pulled his leg back before he could.

"'k guys, need you to stand to greet Aishling!" Orfeo stood from where he was sitting Indian style on the desk next to a pondering Lucian.

"She starts today?" exclaimed Julia. She clapped her hands happily. The girls were quick to stand, pulling some of the boys up with them.

Sighing, Tala stood, signyfying for his team to do so. Kai was brought back from his thoughts when he felt knuckles rapping gently against his skull.

"Ge' up!" demanded a groggy Bryan. He yanked Kai up by his collar and yawned.

Tala and Ian rolled their eyes simultaneously. God Bryan was lazy.

Kai blinked large blood red eyes in Spencer's direction, looking so much like a young child.

Spencer smiled friendly at the younger teen and Kai smiled back shyly as he brought his thumb to his mouth and began chewing on the nail. He waved then quickly tucked his hand back by his side. Spencer chuckled slightly then turned to where he could feel his Captain's glare coming from.

Icy blue eyes glared long and hard at him before the owner turned away, biting down into his bottom lip savagely.

"Say hello peeps, to the world's most evil chick, worse then the grade 8 witch, or the red headed pmsing yappiedie yappiedie cow, say hello to Aishling!" Orfeo bowed down low mockingly.

A beautiful young woman stepped into the room. She bopped Orfeo on the head and smiled at Lucian, who stared back with unusually dull eyes. She cast him a worried glance before her gaze swept over the bladers in front of her. Finally, her eyes met lilac.

Bryan frowned as the 'chick' stepped into the room. She seemed familiar. She hit Orfeo on the head, smiled at Lucian, looked around and finally, hazel met lilac.

Bryan blinked wearily. He felt tired. Not lazy tired but tired, tired. Like exhausted. He blinked twice more, trying to get his eyes to focus. His knees felt weak, his head was pounding, he felt ready to puke and the scratch on his head felt like it was stretching open.

He threw a hand out to grab onto Tala to stable himself as the room began to spin.

Tala felt the weak grip clench onto his arm before sliding off. There was a bang and a few of the desks were moved.

Tala looked to the side, confused. "what the? Bryan!"

Bryan's form lay in the middle of fallen desks, crumpled, pale and shuddering. Tala leant down next to him, eyes narrowed. He touched Bryan's temple where blood was slowly leaking out of a cut Bryan had obtained when his head hit the desks. Thankfully, the cut was only small, not big enough to do any serious damage.

"Bry what's up? Bry?" Tala looked at the falcon's face and cursed as glassy lilac eyes slid shut and the pale form shuddered one last time before going limp.

Tala looked up when he heard giggling. He was ready to yell at Michael or Tyson or whoever but not Kai.

Kai leant over the desks and peered at Bryan intently. He laughed again and his eyes travelled to Tala's face. He smiled at the red head. "Fun!" he hissed, eyes narrowing and his smile turning into a feral smirk. And suddenly he was smiling and laughing again. He put his finger to his lips. "…shh…" he broke off into uncontrolable laughter, clutching his sides while Tala shook his head almost fearfully.

_**Number Four: probably not next chappie**_

"And this?" asked Mr Pyne as he drew the next symbol up on the board.

Kai raised his head and peered at the symbol. He cocked his head to the side and raised his hand.

"Kai?"

Kai put his hand down now that he had been chosen but he continured to stare at the symbol. Finally he narrowed his eyes and spat "_Di_hydrate!" 

The tower of random things that Ian had been building suddenly collapsed, things rolling everywhere.

There was a hissing sound and all the taps suddenly turned on.

Tala and Rei ducked slightly as the whiteout Bryan had been twirling in his fingers exploded, the white liquid going all over the surprised falcon.

The windows next to Tyson, Diachi and Max blew open. A strong wind passed through and caused all the pages of books to flip and all loose papers to sail around the room. Tyson cried out as his cap flew off his head.

The lights flickered and went out and the interactive whiteboard turned itself on. The pen picked itself up and hovered in front of the screen. It began to write.

The screen's background was black and in large red letters was the word 'dihydrate.' The pen crossed out the 'hydrate' and added an e to the 'di' so that it read 'die'. Large red wings were drawn around the word. Thick chains were added.

The firealarm went off and the sprinklers came on.

Everyone ran for the door. Mr Pyne reached it first and he jiggled the handle, trying to get the door open. It wouldn't. It was locked from the outside.

"Everyone stay calm!" demanded Mr Pyne and he turned to face his class.

"Kai? Kai snap out of it!" Tala shook the dual haired teen by his shoulders, wincing as Kai began to laugh louder.

Tala pulled away and glanced around the room. Everything was going mad. The shelves were shaking, the glass beakers and test tubes rattling. The lights kept flicking on and off and the taps were still spraying water everywhere. The fire alarm was still blaring and everyone was soaked head to toe from the sprinklers. Random items began exploding; pens, whiteout, bottles of water. All the windows blew open, blowing everything everywhere, the wind so strong that the chairs and desks began to tip over. The blinds that usually covered the windows kept opening and closing and the white board markers were writing on the normal whiteboard. 

Deep cackling coming from the interactive whiteboard speakers joined Kai's own laughter.

What was happening?

* * *

**done!**


End file.
